Smile
by MusicallyWritten
Summary: -Mainly FujiOC- "A short, small, simple smile can mean a lot. When the one you like passes by you in the halls and gives you said smile, your day is better knowing that for at least one second, they thought of you." FULL SUMMARY INSIDE. AU. DISCONTINUED; READ PICTURE PERFECT
1. Introduction

A short, small, simple smile can mean a lot. When the one you like passes by you in the halls and gives you said smile, your day is better knowing that for at least one second, they thought of you.

Another scenario is when a loved one passes away with that smile. You know that they're at peace… At a better place now.

There are endless possibilities.

I'll tell you about the boy who stole my heart. His smile is small. His smile is simple. His smile makes me melt when it's true.

His name? You'll learn that in due time, my friend. I hope you will enjoy this experience as much as I am now.

This story is still writing itself. There will be dramatic scenes, comedy scenes, corny scenes, etc.

(I promise, considering that this is a true story and a real-as-can-be story. Trust me, I'm going through it _right now_.)

Oh. Another thing you should know.

The name's Darcel Callina, (Last, First.)

And this is my messed-up story I'd like to call, my life.


	2. Chapter 001

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese. _Translations at the bottom._

* * *

Japan.

I inhaled sharply as we arrived at our destination.

**"Can you believe it?"** I heard my companion comment under her breath. I turned to her to see what she was talking about. **"We're back in **_**Japan**_**. Our birthplace, the place we met, our memories! C'mon, show enthusiasm!"**Her green eyes shone under the Japan sun.

I chortled a bit. I glanced behind me to see if the rest of the group was still there. We were on this exchange student program.

**"Calli!"**I did a 180 turn to see Kuniko (In America, they call her: "Nico." Yes, it's a boy's name. We call her Kuni.) running towards me, breathing in pants. "I almost got lost!"

I felt a sweat drop form at my head. **"Hon, we **_**just**_** exited the gate."**

She huffed. **"You know I can get lost easily!"**

Oh, how well I knew _that_. **"Where's Miyuu?"** (Miyuuki.) They called her Mimi in America, a name that she learned to despise with a passion.

**"Guys,"** Gisela (Giselle or Ella) interrupted the pair of us. **"I don't think we should be talking in English here."**

I blinked slowly. I then began my fluent Japanese, "Oh yeah. We'd look like a bunch of tourists here. What school we going to again?"

"Seishun Gakuen!" Kuni was bursting with energy, and thus, our Japanese speaking began! "So, where _is_Miyuu?"

"Don't forget your honorifics," I scolded the twelve-year-old. "Eh, Kuni-chan?" I flashed a large grin.

"Actually, I think we're close enough to do _without_ the honorifics, but… it's nice to get some respect around here." Giselle nodded, smiling playfully.

"Oh! Yeah! Of course, Darcel and Stryker-senpai(1)!" Kuni bowed slightly, having a big smile plastered along that enthusiastic face of hers.

"Chan(2) or Onee-chan(3)." I told her. "Senpai is too formal."

"Whatever," She waved the thought away with her hand. "Oh! Look! There's Miyuu…-chan!" She corrected herself in the nick of time.

**"Guys! Guys!"**Miyuu sprinted towards us with her luggage. She was talking in English. Before she could get a breath out, Kuni remarked arrogantly:

"Talk in Japanese, retard."

That earned a glare from Miss Miyuuki Kikumaru. (If we are doing the names Eastern style, Miss Kikumaru Miyuuki, then.)

"Haha, you're funny," Miyuu sneered in Japanese, having sarcasm dripping heavily off that sentence. "Anyways! There's this food cour—"

I rolled my eyes, and cut her off. "Miyuu-chan, there's _always_ a food around. Another thing, do you have news that's _not_ about food?"

Miyuu paused, took a breath, and a few seconds later, shook her head slowly.

"Well! That was ten seconds of my life I will never get back!" Giselle claimed, clasping her hands together. "Let's go call our ride, hm?"

"Who you gonna call?" I questioned.

**"Ghostbusters!"** Miyuu and Kuni both pumped their fist in the air.

Giselle and I exchanged a look until we decided to stare blankly at the two underclassmen. I shook my head at them. Miyuu pouted; Kuni just grinned largely and waved.

"It was the perfect moment!" Miyuu exclaimed, defending herself.

"_Any who, _who _are_we going to call?" Kuni asked. "We should call one of our relatives. Probably one that one of us is close with."

"Yeah, yeah," Giselle cut in. "How about your uncle, Nanjirou-san(4)?"

"The perverted priest?" Miyuu cut in.

Kuni shuddered. "Perverted _priest_?"

"No, he's not a priest," I said pointedly. "But he _is_ perverted. I think that he would be okay as an escort to the place that we're staying. Which is… where again?"

"It's just another home, but it has an _amazing_ view. It has a beautiful backyard." Giselle replied.

Something in that sentence unnerved me. "View? Does that mean that we'll be on a high platform?"

"Oh! No!" Giselle quickly shook her head, afraid that she startled me. "Of course not! I meant that we would have a great view of the backyard. Which is beautiful, I say again."

I sighed in relief. "Oh, good."

**"Well, let's get a-callin'!"**Miyuu stated in English. She gestured for me to get my cell phone out of my TokiDoki messenger bag.

"Alright, hopefully he'll pick up," I muttered under my breath. I dialed his number on my TokiDoki skinned iPhone. It rang three times before someone picked up the other line.

"Moshi moshi(5)," It wasn't Najiro-oji-san(6); it was a more youthful voice.

**"Ryoma! Dude! How's my favorite cousin doing?"** I conversed in English. I knew he could speak it, I mean; he was born in the states!

**"Who's this?"**

My voice was filled with disbelief, **"Ryoma? You don't remember? It's only been a year since I've spoken to you,"** Well, that _has_ been a long time. "**It's your cousin, Calli."**

"Ah, Calli-nee-chan!" His voice sounded happier. I knew the kid absolutely adored me. Maybe it was my talents, maybe it was my charms… or maybe it's because I buy him food whenever he wants.

**"We're here in Japan, we just moved here, and we—"** I started.

**"Who's **_**'we' **_**exactly?"**Ryoma questioned.

**"You remember Giselle. There are also my friends Miyuu and Kuni. We kind of need a ride from the airport to the place that we're staying at."**

**"Hold on, I'll go tell Oyaji**(7)**."**I could hear his footsteps in the background, and then I could hear a bell's ring reverberating. Ryoma changed his language from English to Japanese. "Oi! Oyaji! Calli-nee-chan and her friends just moved here from America, and they need a ride to the place that they're going to stay at."

I heard the ringing of the bell stop, and I heard a distinct middle-aged man's voice, but I couldn't tell what he was saying. Ryoma came back on the phone after a few minutes.

**"Yeah, he's going to come by now."**

Hm… That was unusually easy.

Ryoma cut in on my thoughts. **"Nanako-san says hi."**

**"Tell her likewise. 'Kay! Bye oh favorite cousin of mine!"**

**"Ja ne**(8)**, Calli-nee-chan."**

I will never get tired of that kid calling me that. He's twelve and all, but I like to treat him like he's a little six-year-old.

I nodded towards them, signaling that we were going to be picked up.

**"Sweet!" **Kuni exclaimed in English. **"We be G's ballin' up in this town!"**

I stared at her blankly. I scolded her in English as well, **"Never… and I mean **_**never**_**… Do that again. The most 'G' an Asian can be is 'C,' and that's a Chingstah."**

**"**_**I**__**'m a Chingstah  
I'm an Asian wannabe  
I don't hang with the G's, I just roll with the C's  
When I skip down the street, all the people, they see  
A super badass Chingstah, they wannabe me.  
I run with scissors! I break the rules!  
I drink when I drive! I loiter in schools!  
I'm a hardcore thief, I steal but don't share!  
I don't need to build my rep, cus I just built a bear!**__**"**_Miyuu sang the whole chorus from the memorable NigaHiga video.

"Seriously?" Giselle laughed. "You memorized it?"

"I had time to," Miyuu defended herself.

I sweat dropped. "C'mon guys, let's go to the front so that Nanjirou-oji-san can pick us up."

We traveled to the front doors, waiting for a truck to pull up.

I decided to take out a book to read.

"Hey," Giselle sat next to me, her dark brunette hair framing her light mocha-colored skinned face, her deep green orbs staring at what I was reading.

A pang of jealously shot through me. She was always known as the pretty one between her and I. She was always the sports type person, and she was also a bookworm. This girl was perfect! But… I knew that I could never hate her. She's too much of a kind person. Another reason why I'm jealous of her.

We are the best of best friends. Twins at heart. Sisters for life. Did I mention best friends?

"This is crazy," Giselle whispered, her tone making me close my book. "We're back _here_. We're back to our hometown. We're back to our childhood memories."

She was the only one I really _had _childhood memories with here in Japan.  
I was closer with Giselle than I was with the rest of them.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," I smiled. I couldn't wait to see my 'Gary-Stu' of a cousin. (Y'know, like _Mary-Sue?_) He _is_ a Gary-Stu, is there anything he _can't _do? (Please don't tell me I just rhymed.)

"I have some family living in Tokyo now," Giselle grinned over at me. I was shocked. Maybe her family and my family knew each other! We grew up in Tokyo together, but her extended family lived in Osaka. Ryoma was still in the states at this time.

"Oh sweet, what are their names?" I questioned.

"Ah, there's Yumiko-san, Yuuta-san, and there's—" Before she could finish, Nanjirou-oji-san's car pulled up.

"Come on! We have no time! I have some things to do! Let's go, let's go!" He began to clap his hands out of impatience. I glared at him. I bet he had nothing to do except to look at porn magazines. I can't believe Rinko-oba-chan(9) [She hates it when I say, "Rinko-oba-**san**") doesn't do anything about it…]

I put all of my stuff along with the rest of the girls in the back. Giselle was telling Nanjirou-oji-san the directions from the airport to our staying place that she printed out on MapQuest. I grabbed my iPod out of my pocket.

I decided to put it on shuffle, even if I knew I was going to skip most songs until I got to a song I wanted to listen to.

After skipping three songs, one came in delight to me. 'Wedding Dress,' by Taeyang came on. I love this song. Even if it's sad.

"Here! Okay! Get out! Have a nice life!" The screeching tires of the car nearly drowned out Nanjirou-oji-san's voice, but I could still tell what he was bellowing. He almost threw us out of the car, and got our entire luggage out.

Giselle was scolding my oji-san, and I was wondering why he looked sheepish. What did he do now?

"It was the bird's fault I that I ran over it! Why would it be in the middle of a highway?!"

Giselle just shook her head and went to get her stuff while Nanjirou-oji-san drove away nonchalantly and more carefully than the car ride he put us through. Psh, some things to do, my ass!

We grabbed our luggage and into the house without any of my oji-san's help. That lazy bastard.

"What are you listening to?" Miyuu trotted over to my side, trying to look over my arm to see my iPod. I showed her what song was playing. After 'Wedding Dress,' came on, I kept it on replay. "Awuh! I love that song."

She paused for a few minutes, and then burst out, "At my funeral, I'm going to have _rock _music playing."

Giselle almost did an anime fall next to me.

I laughed. "Me too, Miyuu. I'm going to have 'Dead Memories' by Slipknot blast through the speakers."

Miyuu thought for a minute. "Isn't that technically alternative metal and _not_ rock?"

I gave her an exasperated look, but didn't push it. "Go and unpack!"

"We should really start a band," Kuni nodded, glancing at all of the instruments across the floor. We already contemplated that thought, but I didn't agree.

"We're bad at writing lyrics, remember?" I told her. "Also, I hate thinking of what goes together. It's too much work."

Kuni sighed dramatically. "But what it would _be_ like to be a bilingual band! A famous one at that!" Her eyes shone in the light bulb's light. I turned to where her eyes were drifting. What the hell was she looking at?

"Don't do that," Giselle cut in.

"Do what?" Kuni's glossy eyes were brimmed to the edge with fake tears. She sniffled loudly. She wanted a band.

"Look dramatically off into the distance when you know there's nothing there."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

At this, I decided to give up on her and get my stuff up to my room. I was pretty sure everything was labeled.

My mind went back to the song.

_**'Cause you should be my lady~**_

I loved how people mix Asian languages with English; it just makes me love the song even more.

I turned a sharp right at the end of the hallway and saw that my room was there. This place was pretty nice. I'm going to take a tour around later.

I pushed the door to see _my_ kind of bedroom. The walls and the floor were made of polished wood. The furniture arrangement showed of simplicity, as they were made of wood as well. There was a Japanese platform bed whose headboard was against the southern wall. There was a window on the western wall, so I could always watch the sunset. There was also another window on the northern wall. The eastern wall was bare, but I knew I was going to change that.

**"Hah! My room's bigger than yours!"** Kuni entered into my room.

**"You sure, Kuni? I think all the rooms are the same size."** Giselle sweat dropped, informing the freshman.

**"Naw, I'm pretty sure mine's bigger," **Kuni grinned, nodding as she scanned my room.

**"Ooh! Party in Calli's room! Woot woot!" **Miyuu raised the roof.

Oh geeze. I'm getting too uptight if I can't think of a better way to say 'raise the roof.' Either that or I'm getting old. It's probably the former and not the latter considering I'm only turning fourteen.

"I want a recording studio," Miyuu said out-of-the-blue, returning to Japanese.

"Why are you random?" Kuni questioned, pinching the bridge of her nose with her index finger and her thumb in an exasperated way.

"I'm not random, I just think faster than you guys do," She smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "I mean _obviously_."

"Oh yeah, you're definitely a quick _thinker_!" Giselle replied sarcastically, her facial expression showing of her snarky feelings.

"Thank you! If that was sarcasm, then… Rude, much!" Miyuu uncrossed her arms, and she flared her nose.

I rolled my eyes. "You should _know_ sarcasm! You own it! You use it every single day."

"Suuuure, I do."

Oh my— I swear these kids will be the death of me.

"Anyways!" Kuni cut in. "We should really get out of Calli's room so that she can go ahead and unpack. 'Kay bye!"

She dragged the other two out, and she closed the door. I heard a bellow in the hallway that I could distinctly tell was Miyuu's voice, **"I ayum gonna go find meself a gewd Juhpayneez boii to flehrt weeth." **(Translation: "I am going to go find myself a good Japanese boy to flirt with.")

Her fake accents were the worse. They sounded so… bad.

You're probably wondering why I'm not stopping Miyuu from flirting with Japanese boys, right? Well, she doesn't actually do what she says. She goes and finds a good place to eat. She doesn't flirt. It's against her nature. We all fell for this once, so we went ahead and… uhm… followed her, _to watch out for her!_, and we saw her enter into a café and almost bought one of everything on the menu.

I started to think of the reasons why she doesn't flirt, but that's a whole different story.

The thoughts in my head were now scattered. I left it at that and just made sure that I unpacked everything.

Once all of my clothes were inside of my dresser and closet, I decided to stack all of my books up into the bookshelf. (Well, obviously. Where else would I put them? And no, the floor is not a choice.)

I was a terrible packer and _un_packer. It took me a total of three hours. It was nine o' clock now, so I decided to hit the hay early.

Before I did that, I checked to make sure that everything was alright with the rest of them. Miyuu had come back with a full stomach, she already unpacked, and now she was lying across her bed, sleeping and breathing heavily.

Giselle was up reading something, but she agreed to go to sleep after a few more chapters. She was already organized, hah, no surprise there!

Kuni was leaning against her last luggage bag that was yet to be opened, she fell asleep. Her instruments were placed perfectly in her room, but her clothes were strewn across the floor. I sighed as I picked her up and put her on her bed.

**"Night mommy," **She muttered. I chuckled a bit.

I exited out of there and took a quick half-bath. (You know what that is, right? You don't get your hair wet?) I dressed into my night clothes. (TokiDoki pajamas! Forshure!) Then I collapsed on my bed.

Oyasumi(10).

* * *

1 = **Senpai**: Upperclassman/Upperclassmen. (_Sehn-pie_.)

2 = **Chan**: Just what you call a young and/or teenage girl. (_Chahn_.)

3 = **Onee-chan**: Older sister. [Does _not_ have to be actually blood related.] (_Oh-neh-chahn_.)

4 = **San**: The most common honorific. It means Mr./Mrs./Miss… You can use it for anybody who you have respect for. (_Sahn_.)

5 = **Moshi moshi**: 'Hello' on the phone. (_Mohshee mohshee_.)

6 = **Oji-san**: Uncle. 'San' can be replaced with 'Sama'. (_Ohgee-sahn_.)

7 = **Oyaji**: 'Father' in an almost disrespectful way. [It actually sort of is.] It can signify closeness within the family, but in Ryoma's case, it means no respect. (_Oh-yah-gee_.)

8 = **Ja ne**: 'See you later,' a casual expression. (_Jah neh_.)

9 = **Oba-san**: Aunt. 'San' can be replaced with 'Chan' or 'Sama.' (_Oh-ba-sahn_.)

10 = **Oyasumi**: Good night. (_Oh-yah-soo-me_.)


	3. Chapter 002

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese. _Translations at the bottom._

* * *

The sunlight seeped through the crevices of the northern window, and I nearly groaned at how bright it was through my eyes that were half-opened.

**"Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!" **Kuni ran into all of our rooms, banging a metal pot with a wooden spoon. It was a classic and convenient alarm, but most times, I wish she didn't do that.

Miyuu and I were the only ones who overslept. (Miyuu doesn't _always_, but she's in a better mood when she does.) Kuni and Giselle were up-and-at-'em, but Kuni was the one with enough courage to wake up the 'Sleeping Beauty' and the 'Beast.' (Apparently, I'm 'Calli the Beast.')

I yawned as I adjusted myself to rest my upper body on my elbows. Once Kuni came into _my_ room and 'rang' the alarm, my head fell back due to the volume of it. I hit my head on the headboard.

I glared at the freshman. She merely smiled sheepishly. "That's why you don't put your head at the headboard; you can sleep upside down, y'know."

"Get. Out." I'm trying my best not to lose my calm, I really am, but if she didn't get out of my room this instant, we were going to have Kuni cakes for breakfast.

"See, this is why you're the beast and Miyuu's the beauty. She isn't grumpy like you in the morning," At this, I threw a pillow straight at her face while I snarled. It hit dead-on. "Rude, much?!"

"OUT!" I bellowed in aggravation.

She scurried away quickly, leaving Giselle in the hallway with an expression that could only be named as: "What-The-Heck-Just-Happened?"

"Don't ask," I grumbled.

I apparently woke up on the wrong side of the bed because for the rest of the morning, we nearly had no more breakfast thanks to Miyuu. (I got all the cold parts.) I had no hot water for a shower thanks to Giselle. Oh wait, here's the _best _part! _My_ school uniform was missing thanks to Kuni!

How that is possible, I have no fuh'reaking idea!

"Calm down! It's only seven-thirty, anyways. School starts at eight-thirty," Miyuu informed me, placing an already cold biscuit inside of her mouth, smacking loudly.

"Shut your mouth!" I snapped at her, I was sure they ran out of 'nerves-to-get-on' because I was already downright pissed off, to put it lightly.

"Found it!" Kuni came out from the hallway, looking like she just had an Indiana Jones adventure.

"Where the hell was it?" Losing patience. Answer the question.

"Uh, well… Y'see, I was just trying to see if the uniforms were washer friendly and…"

"Oh my God, I am going to _kill_ you!" How true _that_ was.

"Wait—! Calm down! It didn't shrink… much. It's washer and dryer friendly. We good in the hood." She put her hands up in her defense. "I forgot that I left it in the dryer, so I nearly trashed you— I mean, _my_ room." She caught herself quickly, but not quickly enough.

"You trashed my room?!" I screeched. I breathed heavily, massaging my nose, trying to make the anger simmer down. "Just get the map, and let's all go to school." I enunciated every word. Focusing very greatly.

"You still need to change," Miyuu said matter-of-factly. Only Giselle was smart enough to know not to mess with me. I restrained myself from pouncing at her.

"Oh, no shit, Sherlock," I remarked with a dead-panned voice.

"Ooh, the Beast has awakened." Miyuu scoffed. At this, Giselle and Kuni actually had to pull me back and cover my mouth from the foul and crude words that erupted from it.

I stomped up the stairs to put on the attire for my learning facility.

"You know she's going to plot her revenge against you, right?" The whisper sounded like Kuni, and I let my anger simmer down and strained my ears to hear what they were saying.

"I know. It's just that I love to get on her nerves. _And_ how could I _not _laugh at how her hair is sticking up like that?"

My eyes widened in surprise, and I ran to my room to see the disaster atop of my head. I nearly screamed at what I saw in the mirror.

It was everywhere.

Tangled, tousled, terrible, other negative adjectives that relate to hair and start with a 'T.'

It was not like a bush. No, nothing like that. It was like _vines._ Charcoal-colored vines. Vines are strong and stubborn. They won't fix themselves… straight, neat, perfect… unless by force. I sighed and started brushing and turned my straightener on.

After my morning routine was finished, (Shower. Brushing teeth. Fixing hair. Dressing. Etc.) I went downstairs and we all started our trail to school. After a few twists, turns, mess up's, and yelling, we actually arrived to Seishun Gakuen. (Seigaku for short.)

I breathed in, long and hard. This was a definite change. We were in a different _country_ with different _time zones_. (Probably why I wake up at strange times.) And we were at a different _school_. It wasn't a school that we've been to for a couple of years already for me and Giselle. A school that she's been to for a year, Miyuu. And definitely not a school that she's toured around, for Kuni.)

"It's a good thing we went early. We still have to get our schedules." Giselle muttered. "We should head to the office right now…"

"Or we can stay and take a tour around," Miyuu suggested. She didn't like going to the office. Whether it was for a good thing or a bad thing. It was usually the latter.

"I think I want to take pictures around campus," I replied, giving Miyuu's idea a chance. "Just to familiarize myself with it."

Giselle sighed. "Since I don't really want to do anything else, I will get _all_ of our schedules." She sighed dramatically. "Since _I'm_ the good one."

We all snorted at the same time.

A vein throbbed in her forehead. "Shut up."

"I think I want to go with Miyuu around," Kuni threw me a look. I nodded. She knew that I didn't like being disturbed when taking photos. **"Take care, Grizzly-Bear." **(Note: It was on purpose that Kuni rhymed. She enjoys doing so.) "Or should I say, 'Kuma-chan(1)'?"

She chuckled at her nickname. "Bye Suzume-chan(2)," I glowered at the name; I didn't enjoy it. "Koneko-chan(3),"Kuni beamed. "And Kitsune-chan(4)." Miyuu threw a grin at her.

"Hah, we're all animals. Ain't that a hoot?" I over exaggerated that whole sentence with very noticeable sarcasm drizzled on it.

Giselle rolled her eyes and we all parted. I grabbed my Nikon D3000 SLR out of my bag.I trotted across the campus, taking pictures almost every minute. I wanted to remember this place so I wouldn't get lost.

"Calli-nee-chan?" Obviously, it wasn't one of the girls, so it _had_ to be, my Gary-Stu of a cousin, Echizen Ryoma.

"Yo." I mocked saluted him.

"Finally here I see," He was acting unusually nice to me. In public, he treated me like he treated everyone else. Then I realized, there was almost no one around. "… So, as your favorite cousin, and your arrival, after school we should…—"

"Go eat?"

"If you insist."

I rolled my eyes. I had fallen for that one. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll pay for you."

It looked for him as if Christmas had come early. I guess some things never change, even _after_ two years.

My wallet was whining inside of my bag, the money wanted to be saved. I sighed. I was a push over when it came to Ryoma. He's too cute!

**"Nice to know you love me for giving you food."**

**"But of course. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."**

**"When did **_**you**_** become a man, Chibisuke**(5)**?"**

He huffed. I grinned. We had a stare down.

He blinked. Hah! Loser. "Did you ever notice that your eyes are red?"

I sweat dropped. "Naw, I never noticed," I snorted. "My eyes have _always_ been like this, Chibisuke."

"That's weird."

"_You_ have green hair."

He shrugged and smirked. "Not as weird as having red eyes. Demon."

"Vegetable."

He was fuming now.

"Oh. I stand corrected. _Steamed _vegetable."

His left eye twitched. More people began to pour onto the campus. He decided not to make a scene. Smart boy. "Ja ne, Darcel-senpai."

"Peace, Chibisuke."

He began to walk towards a cherry blossom tree, which coincidentally, is my favorite flower, and I knew that he was going to fall asleep under it. So, I then carried on with my isolated tour around the school.

I saw another sakura(6) tree, and I rushed to it. Some petals were flowing into the wind, and I knew I just _had_ to catch some pictures. After my camera's shutter went off, I heard another click, and I did a 90 degree turn to see no one there. I blinked.

What the heck?

I decided to leave it alone and just carried on taking pictures, but I couldn't help but have the feeling that could have no other name than:

"Oh-My-Gosh-Whoever-The-Heck-Is-Watching-You-Wants-To-Steal-Your-All-Of-Your-Hidden-Candy-Stashed-In-Your-Bag-And-Only-Leave-The-Disgusting-Ones-Like-Almond-Joy-And-Dark-Chocolate."

Not that _that's_ ever happened to me, of course.

It was probably the same person who made the 'click' sound. I tried to brush it off, but the thought still lingered there. Who _was_ watching me? The fact that I'm in a place without anybody I really know… Makes it even freakier.

The strange presence soon disappeared as fast as it came, and I sighed in relief. I checked the digital watch wrapped securely around my right wrist to notice that it was fifteen minutes until class time.

Realization swept over me when I figured that Giselle never gave me my schedule.

I'm screwed, ain't I?

I ran to the front doors, frantic to find Giselle anywhere. I hope she didn't go off on one of her raids and create a scheme to destroy the school—

"Oi!" Ah. Saved by the sadist.

I sighed in relief. "Hey, Giselle. Where's my schedule?"

She handed me said paper, and she grimaced. "We don't have homeroom together," I scrunched my nose up in disgust. "So that means we don't have _any_ classes together except lunch."

My mouth dropped in surprise. "You have _got_ to be kidding me! Ah geeze! I forgot _all_ about Japanese schools." I dropped my head into my hands. This day was getting worse and worse.

"Yeah, at least it's for only six periods!" She tried to lighten up my mood. I looked up at her with hope. "But… they're each fifty minutes." And there she goes destroying it again.

I cursed under my breath. "That's three hundred minutes of class time!"

"Hey, you might've not realized this, but at the states, we had four-hundred fifty-six minutes of class time."

"Oh. Okay. So what time does school end?"

"Three-thirty."

"Yatta(7)!" I yelped. **"How great is that?!"**

**"… Pretty darn great?"  
"You're darn tootin', it's great!"**

**"… Did you take your medications today?"**

**"…"**

**"Shame on you."**

"Urusai(8)."

The bell rang.

"Kuso(9)!" We both yelled in unison. In one, swift motion, I simultaneously read my schedule as I pushed the doors open and ran up to Year 3, Class… 1.

I pushed passed everybody, not caring if I knocked someone down. (Which I did… _by accident!_) I heard their scolding, but that didn't mean I was _listening_. Who cares? I get lectures all the time by other people.

I slid the door open and skidded into the room, acting as if I was sliding into home plate.

**"Yes! Made it!" **I gladly jumped up to my feet. I noticed that everyone was looking over at me. "Eto(10)… Hi? Pleased to make your acquaintance?"

"I'm guessing you're one of the people on the student exchange program?" He was slim and tall with lanky black hair. He had large bifocals that nearly covered half of his face. They were black-rimmed, and he gave me the idea of a _boring_ teacher.

"Hai(11)…" I paused for a minute, checking the schedule. "Takeshi-sensei(12)." Sheesh, that was such a common name here in Japan.

"Please introduce yourself to the class,"

"Hai!" I bowed to the teacher, feeling self-conscious. I don't think that I fit in too well over here. "Konnichiwa(13) minna(14)! My name is Darcel, Callina. Call me Calli. I hope we can get along!" I bowed again, but this time, to the class.

"Please take a seat next to Tezuka Kunimitsu-san. Raise your hand, Tezuka-san," I saw a boy who looked so much older than a junior high scholar. He looked like a teacher, and a strict one at that.

"H-hai," I nodded, scared to find out how this person would act. He seemed cold. He seemed stoic. It seemed like he wouldn't let his guard down at all.

"Eto… Ohayo(15), Tezuka-san," I greeted him timidly.

"Hn."

How rude.

"Please take out your Rekishi(16) books," I groaned inwardly. I really hated History. It wasn't really my choice. I don't even know whose choice it was! I think that the people doing this exchange student program did. Screw them.

During the switch of the teachers, I counted how many doodles I had on my History notebook pages that were also filled with informational notes.

_25_.

I recounted all of them again, surprised to find out how much I've been paying attention… which wasn't a lot. I think I was just subconsciously copying the same things written on Kunimitsu's.

"Look, Tezuka-san," I whispered excitedly, showing him the little pictures that I drew onto my notebook. His mouth twitched at the ends… Oh, I hope that's a sign of a smile and not of annoyance.

"Majimenji(17)."

I pouted. Apparently it was of annoyance.

Most of them were "chibi" images of Mr. Majime(18) at my left. That's probably why he seems like he's pissed at me. Actually, it seemed like he has no emotions at all. He's not my kind of friend.

Suugaku(19) soon followed after History. I'm really good at Math, but of course, something went wrong. I had done the wrong page and I had already turned it in to the teacher, and I had been called up to the board to do all of the problems.

Luck was _not_ on my side today.

Kagaku(20)/Kagakugijutsu(21) came up. I was okay at the subject, I was better at the Technology part than I was at the Science part. I've never really liked Science, to be honest.

After an agonizing one-hundred fifty minutes of class time, lunch arrived. In Japan, it's not short like it is in America. It's your lunch time, your study hall time, your make-up work time, your practice time, and of course, your catch-up-on-sleep time.

**"Darcel! Get your butt over here!" **I cringed at the tone of her voice.

**"The hell do you want, Stryker?"**

**"…We didn't pack lunch."**

Oh shit. I guess we're skipping lunch today.

**"How was class?" **I questioned.

**"It was okay... I'm in my cousin's class…"**

I'm pretty sure that wasn't all because she's hiding her face from me. Something clicked inside of my head.

**"Ooh! Who is it?"**

**"My cousin?"**

**"No! The guy that you like!"**

She backed away quickly from me. **"What are you talking about?" **This was one of the rare times you would see Stryker Gisela, the _Queen_ of composure, nervous.

"I mean, who is it?" It wasn't healthy to be speaking in English for a long time when you're in Japan.

"N-no one."

"Did you just stutter? You _never_ stutter! This guy must be _something_!"

"The exact opposite of me!"

"A-ha! So you admit it!"

"Figured that one by yourself, Captain Obvious?"

"Tell me!" I groaned. She never held back this much. She was a pushover when it came to _me_.

"I'm not supposed to like him. Taken girls aren't supposed to like other guys!"

I jumped at this new piece of information and I stopped in my tracks. "_Taken_?" I paused to ponder over this… Oh geeze, you have _got_ to be kidding me! "No! You did not! You were supposed to end it! How do you think—?"

"That's exactly it! I _didn't_ think! I feel like I owe it to him!"

Wanna know who we're talking about? We're talking about Giselle's ex, I mean _now_, boyfriend in _America. _Half-way across the fuh'reaking world.

**"You crazy. I love you… But you crazy." **Giselle rolled her eyes at how mature I was taking this situation.

"I don't know why I didn't call it off! Remember, I was never the dumper! I was always the dumpee, or whatever it's called nowadays."

I blew out a large breath. "I want you to break up with him."

She sighed and shrugged.

I began to walk away from her, thinking of ways to spend this break.

But of course, Giselle always finds a way to get _her_ way. She didn't want to end it with him. I knew she didn't, but I didn't know _why_. She had the perfect excuse as well.

"You know, America is about fifteen hours behind. Gonna be kind of hard to break up with him with the time zones."

Fuh. Reaking. A.

* * *

1 = **Kuma**: Bear. (_Kooh-mah_.)

2 = **Suzume**: Sparrow. (_Soo-zoo-may_.)

3 = **Koneko**: Litterally, 'cat child.' Which is kitten. (_Koh-neh-koh_.)

4 = **Kitsune**: Fox. (_Kit-soo-neh/nay_.)

5 = **Chibisuke**: A variation of 'shortie.' (_Oh-chee-bee_.)

6 = **Sakura**: Another name for 'cherry blossom.' (_Sah-koo-rah_.)

7 = **Yatta**: An expression for joy. Just like 'Yay.' (_Yah-tah_.)

8 = **Urusai**: Shut up. (_Ooh-rooh-sigh_.)

9 = **Kuso**: Dammit. (_Kooh-soh_.)

10 = **Eto**: Uhm… (_Eh-toh_.)

11 = **Hai**: Yes. (_High._)

12 = **Sensei**: Teacher (_Sehn-say_.)

13 = **Konnichiwa**: Hello. (_Koh-nee-chee-wah_.)

14 = **Minna**: Everyone. (_Mee-nah_.)

15 = **Ohayo**: Good morning. (_Oh-high-oh_.)

16 = **Rekishi**: History. (_Reh-kee-shee_.) [I have no idea if that's right.]

17 = **Majimenji**: Be serious. (_Mah-jee-mehn-jee_.) [I have no idea if that's right.]

18 = **Majime**: Serious. [One way to say it at least, I think… It's more of 'seriousness.'] (_Mah-jee-meh_.) [I have no idea if that's right.]

19 = **Suugaku**: Math. (_Soo-gah-koo_.)

20 = **Kagaku**: Science. (_Kah-gah-koo_.)

21 = **Kagakugijutsu**: Technology. (_Kah-gah-koo-gee-joot-soo_.)


	4. Chapter 003

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese. _Translations at the bottom._

* * *

"Calli~" I heard a sing-song voice behind me, and in all of my experience of spending most of my time with my friends, it was obvious who it was.

"Hey Miyuu," I replied, not looking back. "Why you here?"

"I wanted to see your classroom… Since we have no lunch. Ahem. Thank you _Mother_," She was now at a jogging pace to reach my side. Giselle had left me a while ago since she wanted to practice her aiming skills. (She's in Archery, you know. Or at least, she's going to join.)

"Better watch your mouth if _I'm_ your mother," I informed her, giving off a threatening vibe.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You'll chop me up and serve me by the pound. So… Can I see the pictures you took this morning?"

"Sure. Oh, pictures! I could take some during this break."

"Can I come this time?" She stuck out her bottom lip, giving the puppy pout. "Pwease?"

"Fine."

"Yes! I shall also bring my sketch pad."

"You know, I haven't seen your drawings in a while…"

"It's 'cause Giselle is the rightful artist among us."

"Giselle is the rightful _everything_ among us. Doesn't mean anything. She gets it from her mom, trust me. The two of them make complete perfection!"

We sauntered towards my classroom on the third level. I had an issue with heights, but as long from the window I didn't look _down_, I was good.

"Who's that?" She pointed towards the desk that had a bunch of screaming girls surrounding it. It was next to mine. My eye twitched in annoyance. Mr. Majime was a heartthrob? How is that _possible_?

I pinched my bottom lip and sucked in a sharp breath, letting out a loud and effective whistle, causing Miyuu to cover her ears at the volume. The fan girls turned to me.

"I think everyone here has had enough squealing. It would be nice for you to leave. Since _some_ people are using this time as study hall."

I hate fan girls. Hate. Hate. Hate…

Even if I'm one. But only when it comes to people who deserve it! (Like Taeyang! Eeee!)

So what if Mr. Majime can do something spectacular?! He doesn't have the personality to fit it! He's okay looking and all, but… Seriously?!

They were all muttering under their breath almost the same thing, "Americans are so rude." I had to twitch at that as well. Miyuu was gripping my arm so I wouldn't chase after those brats.

I stared over to Kunimitsu's desk to see a bunch of bento boxes on top of it. My eyes widened. I began to take long, slow strides towards Kunimitsu's desk, having a wide smile plastered along my face.

"Ah! Darcel-san, how are you enjoying Japan?" Someone with a strange haircut ask me. I wanted to ask him how his two strange strands of hair stayed like that but still looked soft, but I resisted that impulse.

"It's good. Uhm…" I was waiting for him to give his name.

"Oishi Shuichiro, pleased to meet you," He bowed.

**"Nice to know there's someone in this class who isn't a stiff neck," **I muttered under my breath. "Ne, Tezuka-san, are you going to eat all of that bento?"

He pushed them away as he pulled out a bento of his own. I took the hint.

"Do you think I can take four of those?"

"Nani?! A girl eat four bento?"

"She must have such a fast metabolism!"

"What are you talking about? She's not skinny!"

"She's going to get a heart attack half-way through the third one!"

My eye twitched. I turned to all those who just _had_ to comment on it. "They're for me and my friends! We forgot to pack lunch!"

Sheesh! I hate it when people don't ask why. They just assume! You know, it makes an ass out of you and me… At least, in English it does.

I saw Shuichiro give us a small smile. "Yes, of course! Tezuka, you don't mind, of course?"

He merely pushed the bento further. I grinned and grabbed four. I'm pretty sure that those girls made them with love and care… Unless there's a love poison in there, then I'm scared. But! No looking at the negative side of things.

"I'm heading to the courts," His deep voice surprised me. Dang! When did _he_ go through puberty? Is he even fourteen?

Oh man. Imagine the scenario of Justin Bieber meeting Tezuka! Oh geeze! I would be recording the whole thing! Justin Bieber, what a joke! **(A/N: No offense to anyone who likes him.)**

"Hey, let's go eat already," Miyuu suggested, after Shuichiro had followed Kunimitsu. I nodded in agreement. I went to find Kuni while Miyuu went to find Giselle.

"Kuni!" I shouted her name, hoping to find her quick. I was _hungry_. "Oh where, oh where, has my Kuni gone? Oh where, oh where, can she be? With her… Uh…" I stopped abruptly in the middle of the first year hallway.

"Good job finishing the song," Kuni's sarcastic remark was the loudest thing heard in the hallway. I passed her one bento and she looked at me strangely.

"Long story."

"Right. It always is."

"Found her!" Miyuu was dragging Giselle by her arm. I could tell that Miyuu was hungry as well. Kuni doesn't eat much, and usually, it's Miyuu who finishes all the food that we didn't finish. ("Don't let good food go to waste," She scolds, wagging her finger.)

When Giselle eats, she finishes her food, and then she would go back to whatever she was doing quickly. Whether it was guitar, violin, archery, swimming, watching T.V, solving riddles, (I do that more than she does.) or a bunch of other possibilities.

The rest of the day went the same as it did in the beginning. Nothing really exciting. Bad luck continued, for sure. I wanted to stay after school because I didn't want to go home yet, but there wasn't really anything I could stay for until I talked to Ryoma.

Nobody was around us while we spoke. We were behind a sakura tree and he was sitting down in front of me while I had to kneel because of the stupid skirt. (Not comfortable.) I saw his tennis bag.

"Hoi, you're joining tennis?" I questioned my twelve-year old cousin. _What_ a surprise. Note the sarcasm.

"Hm," He shrugged. "What about you?" He smirked over at me. We grew up playing tennis together, but I didn't enjoy it as much as he and Ryoga did. I was the one who held the camera and took videos and pictures of them playing.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't like tennis, remember? I'm the photography-slash-video freak."

"And the one who always hogged the karaoke mike at parties," At this, he whistled nonchalantly while I glared daggers at him.

"Hey! When it comes to music, I taught you guitar _and_ how to sing!" I 'hmphed.'

"Not exactly useful here, now is it?" He smirked.

A metaphorical vein was throbbing exasperation. "Whatever! There's a music club here!"

"No, there's not."

"I can probably make a club that has to do with music!"

"Could. Would. Won't."

"How do _you_ know?"

"You're too lazy to fill out papers."

The aforementioned vein popped. "You jerk! I bet you I can, but I won't! I'll just join the photography club."

"Of course, safe behind that little D50 of yours instead of out in sports."

"It's a Nikon D3000 digital SLR!" I screeched. I hated it when people got it wrong. I spent more than $900 on that piece of heaven.

"Two-thousand nine-hundred fifty off, who cares?"

That boy was going to get some serious slapping. "I can embarrass you, don't forget that, Chibisuke."

He glared at me with his cat-like eyes as I used the nickname that Ryoga and I always teased him with. "With what?" He taunted.

"Oh, I could show the entire tennis club of all the videos of when you just started to play tennis. The one my mom took? You and your cute little three-year old self! Nanjiro-oji-san was tossing the ball at you, but you had terrible reflexes, and bent your knees and did your own little tennis grunt a little too late! The video ended on the fifth ball, and you fell to the ground with a cute little baby gwunt." I pinched his cheek. **(Episode 129)**

"Nani?!" Ryoma yelled in surprise. "You still have it?!"

I shifted my eyes. "I've kept all of my videos."

Ryoma was breathing heavily, trying to keep his cool. His nose flared, and his lips were pursed, I had the instinct to laugh, but I held it in. "Erase them. Delete them."

"Nah, I already uploaded them onto my computer. They're also already saved onto a website." I would never do that to Ryoma though. I cared about him too much; I didn't want him to hate me. "I'm definitely going to show them to your teammates."

"…" He stared blankly into my eyes, trying to catch any emotions in them. My eyes tend to not give anything away about me, but there are other things that do.

"A-ha!" Ryoma suddenly exclaimed. I jumped back in surprise. "Your index finger is picking at the edge of your thumb's nail. You're lying!"

My jaw dropped in shock. "What?!" I looked down to see that was actually happening. Huh, I guess I have to learn how to control my actions. Consciously and subconsciously.

"Can I look at your schedule?" His question surprised me, but I handed it to him. I grabbed his as well.

**"You're not in Music class?" **He eyed me. I shrugged.

**"I never liked it. I don't like being **_**taught**_** by someone other than the teacher that I had in Houston. Plus, I want to focus on **_**my**_** instruments. Not others."**

There was a moment of silence, but it was comfortable.

**"You're in English?"** I observed his schedule closely. **"**_**Why? **_**The class would be too easy for you."**

Ryoma dismissed the thought with his hand. **"I don't like much work."**

I rolled my eyes. **"Of course not."**

More and more people started to move to where we were. I stood up and brushed off the dirt on my clothes, Ryoma did the same.

"Have fun at tennis," I waved. "Ja ne, Chibisuke! Be careful! Don't get hurt!"

"Sure," Ryoma waved but didn't look back.

I then figured out that it was a perfect chance for me to stay after school, but really, there was no point. Ryoma was probably going to get into trouble. That was a fact. With his arrogance and his skills, he's a trouble magnet!  
**"Callina Sayomi Darcel!"**

There were a lot of people calling my name today.

"Wait, Darcel-senpai," Oh great. Ryoma's back. Just kidding. Just kidding about the just kidding… Actually, I don't know if this is good or bad. He probably got into a figh—.

"You said that we would go out to eat," I turned to my cousin, remembering what I had 'offered' to him.

I sighed. "Yeah, I remember, Chibisuke. Do you want me to wait after your tennis practice is finished, and _then_ we will go out to eat?"

Ryoma nodded. I sighed. Giselle, Kuni, and Miyuu sweat dropped.

"You guys go ahead," I told the girls. "This might take a while."

Miyuu wanted to stay if I was treating to food, but I demanded that she leave now. Kuni was too red to answer anything. (I would need to ask her about that later.) Giselle wanted to stay with me in case I got lonely, but I told her I would be fine.

I followed Ryoma to the courts, feeling that my bad luck will make a stray tennis ball roll my way and make me trip on it. Another scenario was that a tennis ball would hit my face. The next was, a tennis racket coming to life and strangling me with its evil nylon strings.

The chances of that? Trust me, it's possible.

I saw that a lot of people weren't here yet. There were more freshmen than upperclassmen. I sighed. Tennis, to me, is such a boring sport! Even when Ryoma's playing.

I also remembered that I would be seeing Kunimitsu here. Probably Shuichiro as well, but he's nothing to worry about. I just want to see how Kunimitsu is _out_ of class. In the states, I was the quiet one in classes. (Surprise, right?)

I decided to go ask one of the eighth graders here. "Where's Tezuka-san?" Just in case I needed to run away.

"Ah. The regulars? They're arriving later."

Regulars? "Eto… What are 'Regulars?'?"

"Oh, well, they're the ones who compete. They're the best of the best. We're the best school for tennis."

"You _do_ realize that this is just _junior high_ tennis, right?"

"Yes, but doesn't mean that it's not important!"  
"Oh, alright then. Thanks!" I began to walk away slowly.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the girls' tennis courts?" This was a different voice. I turned to a boy with black spikes for hair and deep purple eyes.

"Ne(1), I'm _supposed_ to be here, thank you very much," I snapped. "I'm just here to wait for my cousin."

"Whoa lady, calm down. I was just asking," He shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah," I rubbed the back of my head. "Sorry. I get mad easily. I'm just really ticked that I have to stay here. I want to go home, but I'm not allowed to 'cause of my cousin. He wants to eat after this."

"Ah, wait! How rude of me. I'm Momoshiro Takeshi. Call me Momo-chan. I'm a junior." He grinned and gave me a peace sign. I shot him a small smile.  
"Darcel Callina. Call me Calli-chan. I'm a senior," I winked at him. "But honorifics are such a hassle, don'tcha think? Another thing I want to ask: is there _always_ tennis practice after school?"  
"Yes. There's also practice _before_ school, but that's only when a match is close."

"I see," I nodded, letting my brain suck in the new information. I would probably have to wait three hours every day for Ryoma to finish.

I would only wait for him on Mondays and Wednesdays, my bad days. I wouldn't mind spending my bad days with my favorite cousin. I could also drag along the rest of the gang.

"Well, arigatou gozaimasu(2)!" I waved. "I have to go find my cousin now."

A faded goodbye reached my ears before I bolted around the courts, trying to find Ryoma. My eyes scanned my surroundings, letting my 'find-my-relative' radar go at its full length. I turned to my left to see Ryoma with other freshmen.

He was talking softly so I couldn't hear what he was saying. I sauntered forward until I reached the chain-linked fence. He took a step each time I did. That's really weird. I guess we're more alike in ways that we don't know.

"There are rocks in there, right?" He was using that smart ass tone of his. I huffed. He was _so _going to pay for that later. Karma seemed to ignore him though.

He hit it right on the lid.

Everyone surrounding him looked absolutely stunned. I, on the other hand, was not. Tennis is still boring. No one can change that for me.

"Ah! The senpais are cheating!" The freshman in the oddly colored shirt screamed. His voice sounded really annoying to my ears. "That's so dirty!"

"Shut up! What does a newcomer know?" An eighth grade boy pointed towards Ryoma, yelling angrily.

"Damned brat, he shouldn't have done that," Another eighth grader with long brown hair muttered furiously.

Ah, I knew that Ryoma would get into trouble sooner or later. I'll just let him fix his own problems. Here comes Karma, baby.

Instead of Karma coming, he kept on hitting the can with pin-point accuracy as the oddly-colored shirt freshman had clearly said.

"If I hit it one-hundred times, will you give me a million yen?" Hah. Arrogant kiddo. He grew up with arrogance, I guess. Ryoga. Nanjirou-oji-san.

"A… Awesome control…" The aforementioned freshman stuttered out the compliment.

The two eighth graders were glaring at Ryoma. The one with long hair spoke up. "Bastard. How can you use that tone with a junior?"

"Just because you were born a year earlier doesn't justify you doing something like this." Here, he was right. They _shouldn't_ be doing something like this. The 'Just because you were born earlier' is something he's used against me in the past.

I saw a tall silhouette of someone while the two eighth graders stepped forward, probably wanting to pummel Ryoma to a pulp. "Why you…"  
A tennis ball flew over to where the can was laying. I was afraid that it would suddenly turn at hit me in the face. Even if there was a barrier from it doing so. I flinched.

The _can_ flew instead. It hit the chain-linked door. Damn, whoever that was must have some pretty big muscles.

"Oh, I hit it!" Takeshi came out of the shadows to reveal himself. (It's weird to call him Takeshi since I have a teacher with that name. I'm just going to call him Momoshiro.) **"Lucky~"** And he said this with the most Japanese accent I have _ever_ heard.

"Ah, from before," The freshman with strange shirt said. (He's now Freshman 1. The one with the mushroom hair, Freshman 2. The one with the buzz-cut, Freshman 3.)

Momoshiro chuckled while Ryoma just looked down. Ah, so _they've_ met before as well. Momoshiro saw me outside of the fence, but I just waved. He gave me a short smile and continued to speak to the other eighth graders.

"Oi, oi(3), Arai. Just because the seniors aren't here doesn't mean you can bully the new freshmen. You won't, either!

"Momo, something came up, so I'm leaving first…" The one known as Arai made up an excuse.

"Ja(4)," said his lackey. They both brushed past me and I resisted the urge to spit in their faces.

"Hey, who said you can go?"

I heard footsteps behind me, but I payed attention to what Momoshiro was going to do to Ryoma. He was probably going to ask for a match with the all-too-famous Echizen Ryoma.

"Ore(5)? Ryoma-kun?" A girl's voice muttered in surprise. I turned my head to the right to catch a glimpse of the mini crowd. Two students who were both girls and two adults.

"You know him?" The louder of the two girls questioned. "Let's go, let's go!"

"Yup, it's you, Ryoma-kun." The quieter one stated.

"So cool," The louder one's voice was now just a mumble in awe. "Sakuno! Who is this? Introduce him!"

"Oh, this is Echizen Ryoma-kun."

"Echizen… Ryoma?" The older man was in awe as well. He probably knew my uncle when he was famous.

"Heh, so _you're_ Echizen Ryoma…" Momoshiro raised his eyebrows. "Much smaller than I thought…"

Oh trust me, he's heard _that_ before.

"Who are you?" Ryoma turned his head back to look at Momoshiro.

"Sophomore Momoshiro Takeshi," He pointed at himself. The gears began to roll in my head. Sophomore? Is that the same thing as a Junior? I guess it is… "I heard from the old coach that you can use the Twist Serve?"

Whoa! The twist serve?! How amazing! Note: the sarcasm.

"Really?!" Freshman 1 exclaimed in surprise. Sheesh, everyone is so easily surprised nowadays! Who cares if the ball spins and hits you in the face? (Well, I would. If it was coming towards me.)

"What's a Twist Serve?" Freshman 2 asked.

"Is it awesome?" Freshman 3 added.

Ryoma smirked. "What about it?"

"I'll crush you," Momoshiro taunted. Wow, _that_ was definitely inviting. "Have to do it before you start to bud."  
Next time! On 'Smile'!

Nah. Just kidding.

I'll just tell you this story when the time is right.

'Til then!

* * *

1 = **Ne**: It has no meaning. Just an interjection. (_Neh._)

2 = **Arigatou gozaimasu**: Thank you very much. (_Ah-ree-gah-toh gohz-eye-mahss_.)

3 = **Oi**: Hey. (_Oy_.)

4 = **Ja**: Bye. (_Jah_.)


	5. Chapter 004

_**Author's Note:**_

_**This might not be important, but instead of her having a Nikon D90, she's just going to have the Nikon D3000. Since I have it, it's easier for me. She's going to have a separate video camera since the Nikon D3000 only takes pictures. Okay, thanks for reading!**_

_**Also, there's going to be a short part with French in it. (I'm in French 1A. 7**__**th**__** grade. So I have the basic stuff.)**_

_**Sorry for not updating. REALLY SORRY.**_

_**Especially to 'Anonymous'.**_

_**Thanks to 'Miyuu Kikumaru/Divine Bitterness' for helping me. ;]**_

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese. _Translations at the bottom._

**"Which?"**

**"Smooth,"** Ryoma used a Japanese accent when he said this.

Freshmen 2 and 3 repeated the question and answer with confused voices.

"Sheesh… This is why I don't like beginners," Freshman 1 said arrogantly. A vein began to throb in my head. He has such an annoying voice! "That is a tennis term used to determine who serves first. If the grip is right side up, it's called smooth. If it's upside down it's rough."

"Too bad, it's rough."

The conversations going on around here definitely weren't catching my attention. So I just sat down underneath a tree. I pulled out my iPod and my camera. After a few minutes, I knew that I would want to take pictures instead of just sitting down.

The girls and the woman looked at me strangely, but the man was still gawking at Ryoma. I smiled and waved at the females. The quieter one, the one with the long braids, walked over to me. I yanked the ear buds out of my… well, ears.

"Yes?"

"Ah, w-well… M-might I ask what y-you're d-doing here, s-senpai? Not that it's any of my business!" She added the last part in one breath.

I guess it _is _strange to the fact that someone who looks like they're bored out of their minds are staying after _school_. It _is_ such a strange thing.

"I'm here for my cousin, Ryoma." I shrugged. "I'm supposed to take him out to eat…" I stood up. "Ah, how rude am I! I'm Darcel Callina. Call me Calli-chan, though."

"Ryuzaki Sakuno, n-nice to meet you." Her face turned a deep red. I grinned. I should introduce her to my brother. He would probably like her. Sakuno and Darius. Not too shabby, eh?

"Well, Sakuno-chan," I grinned. "I have to go around and take pictures. I'll see you around sometime."

"Oh, o-okay." Sakuno bowed quickly and went back to the game.

I chuckled a bit and stood up. I grabbed my skater hat out of my bag and placed it atop of my head. I slung aforementioned bag over my right shoulder. Ryoma was probably going to wonder where I was, but I _do_ need some alone time. Spending a lot of time with people can really wear out a girl.

I inserted in my Skull Candy earphones back into my ears, blocking out all the sound. Calm washed over me, the fact that the world's noises could barely be heard through them. Only me and my music.

It's a nice feeling.

After a long time of practicing, I could finally leave with Ryoma to go to a café that he heard of. I was glad that he wasn't terrible with directions.

I plopped down onto the booth seat and slid until I reached the wall, where I placed my elbow on the window sill. "My legs hurt…"

"You weren't the one who was practicing," Ryoma smirked. "But then again, you're a girl."

"You wanna go, Echizen? I can take you freaking downtown, boy. Don't you mess with me now." I paused, noticing that my throat was pretty dry. "Oh my geeze. I want ice cream!"

"Then order some."

"That's what I was going to _do_, dumb butt. You have your order?"

"I want pat bing soo."

"Uh, Ryoma? We're not in South Korea. I don't think they have that here…"

"Can you make me some?" He gave me that stupid puppy dog look that he only gives _me_ but no one else. Sheesh! Does this guy know _all_ of my weaknesses? I mean, his face! I just want to pinch his cute wittle cheeks!

I grunted. "Maybe, but not today. Buy one thing." I averted my eyes. "Just _one_ thing. Nothing more." I cracked. "Okay! Fine, buy whatever you want! Sheesh! Stop looking at me like that! You're making me insane!"

"I stopped like a minute ago."

"Oh."

"But thanks for the offer. I _will_ take it."

I got to stop walking into those stupid traps of his.

"Also, they like to start out in French, and if you continue the conversation, you get free food."

I nodded. That would be nice.

"_Bonjour_," Our waiter came up to our booth. "_Vous désirez_?"

He looked cocky. Apparently he thought we wouldn't know what he just said. "_Bonjour. S'il vous plait donnez-moi… un sandwich, un citron pressée, et une glace au chocolat. Et toi, Ryoma?_" (**Hello. Can I please have a sandwich, lemonade, and chocolate ice cream? And you, Ryoma?**)

He stared blankly at me.

"_Ah, un cheeseburger-frites, un soda, et une glace au vanille, s'il vous plait_." (**Ah, a cheeseburger with fries, a soda, and vanilla ice cream, please.**) I feel accomplished. What now, waiter?!  
I saw that he didn't write anything down due to his bewilderment. Hah!

"You were _supposed_ to take the order." I stated, arrogance noticeable in my voice. "Thanks. Or should I say, _merci_? Mada mada ssuyo."

He looked pretty ticked off when he was walking away, muttering profusely under his breath.

"Sweet, Calli-nee-chan." Ryoma grinned. "Free food."

"FYI, I got you a cheeseburger with fries, soda, and vanilla ice cream for dessert."

"What? No appetizer?"

I resisted the urge to slap him.

"Fine. I'll shut up." Ryoma half-heartedly muttered. His cat-like eyes trailed along the floor and up until they reached the television screen. "Pft. They should have tennis on."

"Well, Ryoma, tennis is boring to some." I replied. "Like to _me_. I mean, come on! A neon colored ball back and forth. Bor-ing!"

"Oh, so fishing isn't?"

"What?"

He pointed towards the screen, and sure enough, fishing was on. I scowled with distaste. "Fishing is even _worse_ than tennis. Shuffleboard as well. _Golf_ is boring too. Why can't they have any good sports on?"

"What sort of 'good sports,' Calli-nee-chan?"

"I like swimming the best. No rules. Just do whatever."

"I believe there _are_ rules."

"Well, they aren't as strict as tennis or whatever. There's even freestyle in swimming. Ooh! Double-dutching is fun. I don't know if dancing is considered a sport, but it's fun to watch."

"You mean, like ballet?"

"I mean like America's Best Dance Crew. SoReal Cru, Quest Crew, Jabbawockeez, etc. There's also the Philippine All-Stars."

"Notice that most of the dance crews you named had Filipinos in them."

**(A/N: I'm Filipino, that's probably why.)**

"Yeah, well. Those are some pretty good dance crews."

"Dance is boring."

"Dance _helps_. Hm, maybe if you learned how to dance then you would have better footwork, eh, Chibisuke?"

**"No**_**p**_**e." **He popped the 'p' for extra effect.

"Actually, that's a good idea. I should teach you how to waltz," My eyes brightened. "That would be nice, and you can sweep girls off of their feet. My little cousin, a prince!"

**(A/N: I made a funny. Ryoma is the **_**Prince**_** of tennis, geddit?)**

He snorted. "Only girls dance. Let alone, waltz."

"Hey, I remember when I learned how to ballroom dance and all that stuff. I was in the same grade you're in right now," I grinned. "My partner had the most graceful steps, and I looked like chicken scratch next to him."

"Who was your partner?"

"Just a friend. You know, Darius and Luke are good dancers. Better at hip hop than they are at ballroom though."

"You know what, I want to get _off_ the topic of dancing." Ryoma sipped his drink that arrived not too long ago from the annoying waiter. "Is there anything else to talk about?"  
"No, actually. None that I can think of."

There was a long silence. At least it wasn't awkward.

Our food arrived shortly later.

My iPhone rang from my bag. (Yes, bag. I don't have a purse. Too strange.) I stared at the Caller I.D. and took the call with Ryoma staring at me, his half-eaten cheeseburger placed between his two hands.

"Moshi moshi."

** "How's wherever the heck you are?"**

"It's a café. It's nice. We got free food 'cause I could talk in French. I'm going to teach Ryoma how to waltz."

**"Yeaah…"** Kuni's voice dragged off the word. **"I'm not going to ask how you got on that subject."**

"What do you need, Kuni?" I rolled my eyes.

**"Oh, I'm playing a game show, and I need to answer this question to win one-million dollars. So I had to phone a friend. Wanna help?"**

"No."

** "Okay then. We need help fixing the television," **Kuni stated. **"It's not working."**

"Well, _obviously_. Since you had said you need help fixing it, I would _assume_ that it's not working, but thanks for stating the obvious anyway!"

**"See, it's hard to work with you and your sarcastic self."**

"Try living with me."

**"I am."**

"Ooh. Touché. Sorry, dude. Can't leave Ryoma here," He shook his head and shrugged, signaling to me that it was fine. "Uh, never mind. I'll see you at the house soon. Maybe, ten, fifteen minutes."

**"Okay. Peace."**

"Out."

**"How much more lame can we get?" **I heard her laughing and the line cut off. I chortled a bit as well. I called over the waiter once I got back to the booth.

"_L'addition, s'il vous plait._" I then smirked. "Oh wait! I don't _have_ to pay. What I _would_ enjoy though, is a take-out box."

The waiter continued to mutter under his breath and ambled to get the box I was asking for. These boxes weren't the Chinese take out ones; they were like the Chili's To-Go boxes.

** (A/N: I don't know how else to explain them, I just didn't want people do confuse them for Chinese boxes.)**

After packaging my food, I said my goodbye to Ryoma. He just nodded at me and went back to where he was staying temporarily. (He doesn't _live_ here. He just stays here to watch over a place, but I think that he'll stay here.)

I dialed Kuni's number again. "Yo, I just started walking. So do you know what the problem _is_?"

"Not really… I think we hooked something up wrong."

"Haven't you heard of reading a manual?"

"Haven't you heard of winging it? Even _you_ don't read the manual."

I scoffed. "I don't _need_ to, dude." I stopped dead in my tracks and did a 360. "Uh, I think I'm lost."

"Oh, good _job_. I think that Miyuu knows the directions. That was the café that she went to the day we arrived. I'll give the phone to her."

Once Miyuu was on the phone, I told her that I was about seven yards down the road.

"Oh, alright. So, you turn right, then another right, then you turn left…" I nearly ran to follow her directions. I knew I would forget them in a short time. I was terrible at memorization. "Turn right again, turn left, and then you turn straight."

I had to stop in my tracks and I started to laugh in the middle of an empty street. "Turn _straight_?"

"Oh. Whoops." Miyuu chortled along with me. "Just follow those directions." She then hung up.

Oh wow. Was it turn left, then right, then right, then 'turn' straight? Something along those lines, right?

When I tried to call back, the phone was off. I tried Giselle's and Miyuu's, but theirs were off too. What was this?! A prank? A test to see that I could memorize well? I couldn't even memorize a simple William B. Travis letter in the seventh grade! (**A/N: I got an 82 without studying. :]**)

After an agonizing twenty minutes, I groaned aloud and fell on my knees. "This _sucks_!"

"I thought you were supposed to go home."

My ears perked up at my cousin's voice. "Ryoma! What are you doing here?"

"This is where I stay, smart one."

"Oh." There was an odd moment of silence. "Well, I got to go."

He simply shrugged and walked casually back inside. I stared at my iPhone in detest. Why couldn't it find a way to take me home?!

I blinked rapidly at my newly found idea. _Wow_, I'm an _idiot_.

I slid my finger across the screen onto page three of my apps. MapQuest.

I chose the most recent address that was placed into my iPhone, and so I let MapQuest know my current location and I chose 'Recent Locations.' I then chose, 'Recalculate for walking.'

**(A/N: Now, I'm pretty sure that Japan doesn't have the same kind of addresses we do here in America, but just go with the flow.)**

I followed the directions of MapQuest, and miraculously, I didn't get lost.

**"Honey, I'm home!"** I burst through the door with that common phrase.

**"Oh puddin'!"** I heard the most Southern accent that could even beat a true and natural Southerner.

**"Evening, gov'ner," **I automatically switched to my British accent, which was actually pretty dang good. **"I really 'ope you did going about fixin' the telly."**

** "Oh, darlin', of course not!" **Giselle spun around, clasping her hands like Giselle does from Enchanted, having that strange expression on her face. Hah. I made a funny. Giselle and Giselle! **"I really don't understand the knick-knacks and the thingamabobs!"**

"Seriously?" Miyuu face palmed herself. "C'mon now, let's get fixing the T.V."

I heard an incoherent mumble from Giselle, something like, "Miss Priss. Not letting us have any fun…" And a whole lot more.

I entered into the living room with the three of them. Kuni was behind the T.V, trying to solve the problem. I took one long look at the hunk of metal in disbelief. Was it really _all_ that simple?!

"Do you know what the problem is?" Miyuu blinked rapidly at the strange expression on my face.

"You have an ID10T problem." I smirked. I read about that from MLIA.

"ID10T?" Kuni questioned. Giselle's mouth twitched at the edge. She reads MLIA with me every single night.

"Yeah. ID10T. Write it down, see what it looks like."

Miyuu and Kuni quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a writing utensil. They tried to make the pen work, but luck wasn't on their side.

Giselle was still in shock.

Kuni ran up the stairs to try to find a better pen or pencil… Because the one that they had was busted. She came back down with a pen I knew for sure _wasn't_ going to work.

Giselle was still in shock.

"What the heck?!" Miyuu screeched at the top of her lungs as she dropped the pen as quick as she grabbed it. "It shocked me!" Kuni began to laugh even if she wanted to know what ID10T meant.

Giselle was still in shock.

"Oh my gosh, guys!" I was sick and tired of the madness. "Write it in your head!"

Kuni stared off into space. "It spelt like 'idiot'."

"Check the plug," Giselle automatically groaned.

Miyuu ventured off into the technological and electrical wire-vined forest known as 'behind the television.'

We first heard a scream, then a sort of muffled/embarassed statement, then a slap to the forehead.

"What happened?" Kuni was oblivious to the whole situation.

"The plugs not in," Miyuu's voice finally carried far enough for us to distinct what she said. I heard more movement behind the telly-vision, and suddenly static popped onto the screen.

"IT'S THE RING! THE RING!" Kuni began to run around in circles frantically. "THE GIRL FROM THE WELL IS GOING TO KILL US ALL!"

"Not unless we go all Scary Movie 2 on her," Miyuu came out. "You know, go all Queen Latifa."

"You mean Shaneequa?" I corrected her.

Giselle rolled her eyes, grabbed the remote, and turned on the DirecTV DVR. "Sheesh." The DirecTV logo came up on the screen, and it began to load.

"Oh." Kuni stopped abruptly running in circles. She paused for dramatic effect. "You know, we should really watch Scary Movie 2."

"How about New Moon?" Giselle suggested. "We've never actually_ watched_ it."

I stared at her in disbelief. "You're _kidding_ me. I admit that the books are good, yeah, but the _movie_? No. I refuse to! Let's watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Miyuu nodded fervently. "I never got to finish it! My friends from school and I got kicked out before we could!"

I was going to ask why, but I realized that I didn't want to know.

"I'll get the DVD out?" Kuni asked.

"Wait. We _have_ it?! Why didn't you ever tell me?!" Miyuu screeched.

Giselle shrugged. "I never had the time to actually open it."

Miyuu shook her head. "_Unbelievable. _I would've watched it the _hour_ I got it. Even if there were guests. I would still watch it and marvel at the amazing-ness."

"Of course you would, Miyuu." I snickered.

"Wait! Did you guys do your homework?" Everyone stopped at Giselle's question. Even Kuni could be heard _not_ rummaging through stuff.

"Yeaaah," Miyuu dragged off the vowels. "About that…"

"Who cares?! We can do it later after the movie," I said.

We waited for Giselle's approval. "_Fine_. But we do it _right_ after the movie."

And after, we _did_ do it.

Just not after the movie.

It was after we pretended to act like the characters from the movie and after we pretended to give Dumbledore the burial he deserved.

Life… is _magical_.

**A/N: I really**_**, really**_** don't like how this turned out. Sorry.**


	6. Chapter 005

**Chapter 005:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese. _Translations at the bottom._

* * *

A few days had past ever since we were in Japan. I heard from Ryoma that he was going to compete with the juniors/sophomores and seniors of Seigaku to get a spot on the Regulars.

I actually met up with him this morning instead of going with the girls.

"Yo, cousin." I grinned at him. "Your cousins and your aunt and uncle say 'Hi,' and that they miss you terribly."

"That's nice," Ryoma had a cocky aura around him right now.

"Whoa, I feel your big head from _way_ over here." I backed off four feet to put emphasis.

"I really don't see why Oyaji is making me go here." Ryoma snorted. "It's pointless. It's not going to help me with my tennis."

"It's just a stepping stone along the way to the grand dream." I winked, using the well-known saying between us. Ryoga used to say that, but then he left suddenly.

When I met Ryoga, I was surprised he wasn't like a long-lost family member. I swear he looked _exactly_ like Ryoma, just older. He was fifteen when he left. He was living with them for about five years. I was only twelve. Ryoma was ten.

"Remembering memories?"

"Ryoga," I muttered.

"Didn't you have a crush on him?"

I blushed furiously. "Shut _up_! When I found out I wasn't blood related to him, only for a little bit. He wasn't bad looking."

"That's disturbing."

"What?!" I was still flustered. "Actually, don't answer. Shut up."

"He should be seventeen now," Ryoma commented. "He probably forgot about us."

I didn't want to tell Ryoma this, but I had contact with him not too long ago. Perhaps just a month ago. I have no idea how he had gotten my number, but he was able to call me.

"Yeah. He should be," I mumbled. I wonder if he looks the same. Hm, I guess my feelings haven't disappeared completely. It's a schoolgirl crush. That's all it is. "I wonder where he is."

"You have _really_ random thoughts." Ryoma shook his head. "We're here."

The 'Seishun Gakuen' sign came into sight. I sighed. Another day of classes.

"It's Thursday." He said. "Are you going to stay after school to watch?"

"Yeah."

The rest of the school day dragged on, but it was finally after school. When the bell rang, I was rushed out the doors by Giselle. She seemed very anxious about something.

"Archery club is going to start and I don't think I can do it," I noticed that she _did_ bring her archer bow with her arrows.  
"Calm down." I rolled my eyes. "You're fine. You can definitely do it."

"You're just saying that!" She was in hysterics.

"Ow," She was gripping my arms too hard. "Sheesh! Just go! I think I might want to go take some photos. I think it'll be awhile until Ryoma's game."

Giselle began to walk away, but it looked like she was hestitating greatly every single step. I let out a long breath dramatically. I ran to her back and nearly pushed her all the way there.

I ran away before she could say anything. I chuckled and pulled my D3000 out of my bag. My iPhone in my pocket began to ring.

_All I wanna do/Is be with you be with you/There's nothing we can do/ Just wanna be with you/Only you/No matter where life takes us/Nothing can break us apart—_

Ah, my ringtone for today. Each day of the month has a different one so that I wouldn't get tired of the song. You know, like over-played songs.

It was a text from Miyuu asking where I was.

_Just got out of the building. Going to take pictures._

She replied, _Oh. Okay. I'll text you later. I'm gonna find something to do._

* * *

**Miyuu's POV [20 minutes later]**

I began to walk around the schoolyard, hoping to find something to do. Calli went off to go take pictures around, Giselle had archery, and Kuni was dragged off by Tomoka to who-knows-where!

"Miyuu-senpai!" Oh. _I_ know where.

My eyes scanned across my surroundings until I found the source of the voice. "Kuni-chan!" I yelped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"  
"The tennis club is having this competition thing…"

I rolled my eyes. Kuni was never gifted in sports, not even _knowledgeable _in sports. She's proud that she could even _name_ the sports. "I guess I could stay with you…" I muttered. I walked over to Sakuno, Tomoka, and Kuni.

"Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka screeched with 'fangirl-ism' definitely noticeable in her cheer.

"T-Tomo-chan," Sakuno mumbled shyly, trying to scold her best friend. "It's best we stay quiet. We shouldn't be loud during a game."

This was a Block D match, I believe. It was Ryoma against Kaidoh.

**"Ryoma! You better beat this guy's ass!" **I didn't really like Kaidoh's attitude. Who the hell acts like a snake? He looks really funny when his lips are out like that, and his shoulders are slumped. He looks like a drunkard to me.

**"He still has lots more to work on," **He replied, using his catch phrase in English. I grinned; this guy definitely had some Calli blood in him. The whole Echizen blood thing…

Ryoma: Mada Mada Dane. [You still have lots more to work on.]

Ryoga & Nanjirou: Mada Mada Daze.

Nanjirou: Mada Mada Dana.

Calli: Mada Mada Ssuyo. (She uses this one because when it comes to people who she contradicts, they're always older than her, and she's more respectable than her cousins and uncle.)

"Talking in English, eh?" A guy in a green shirt questioned loudly. I almost jumped at the volume of his voice.

"Obviously, baka." I replied, glaring at the freshman. Japanese schools were weird. We had freshmen, juniors/sophomores, and seniors. Freshmen are around twelve years old. Juniors are around thirteen years old. Seniors are around fourteen years old.

"You don't have to call me baka," Horio said, failing at muttering under his breath.

Oh brother.

* * *

**Calli's POV**

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" I cursed as loud as I could, letting the all of the frustration out. I couldn't find the tennis courts. They were so obvious, where were they?!

"Yo, Calli!" I heard Miyuu's voice behind me. I turned around to see the tennis courts in plain sight.

"I swear, those are some ninja tennis courts," I mumbled under my breath. I trotted over to where they were. I saw their company and wasn't surprised Sakuno was there.

"Hey, Sakuno-chan," I smiled, winking.

"Ah! Konbanwa(1), Darcel-senpai," She bowed quickly.

I sweat dropped. "Uh, I said you could call me 'Calli.' There's really no need for respect for me. Trust me, I'm not the respectable type."

Kuni snorted. "Damn straight."

The vein that always seems to throb began again. I began to speak like how Alfred Pennyworth speaks from Batman, "Know your limits, Mistress Tsuji."

"Sure, sure." She replied, using the all-too-famous saying from Twilight. Stupid Jacob. He took my catchphrase.

"So, how's the game going?"  
"We're being awfully loud," Sakuno face became flushed when everyone turned to her. I decided to cut her a break.

"Yeah guys," I dropped my voice down to a whisper. "We are. So how's the game going?"  
"Check for yourself, dumbass."

Only Miyuu would step that far.

I grumbled but I did turn to see how the game was turning out. They were both obviously tired, with the panting and the sweat and such. Watching them made me realize how hot of a day it was.

There was a sudden aura that erupted from the courts. Ooh, Echizen's going to pull something that's going to 'WOW!' us all! Hoo_rah_. I'm _so_ excited.

"The 'Snake' is just another name for the 'Buggy Whip Shot,' right?"

(**A/N: So sometimes, I'm switching between the manga and the anime. I have no internet right now, so the manga is all I got. I prefer the anime more.**)

Kaidoh's face was _priceless_.

The game carried on just as it should.

"Game won by Echizen Ryoma, six games to four!"

Wow. I was _really_ late for his game. Awuh. Now I feel like I'm a bad person… Bad feeling's gone.

Kaidoh stormed off with his newly hurt knee. (He shouldn't have done that. He's an idiot.) Psh. Mister _Drama King_.

"He should join Theatre," Kuni snickered.

"Tsuji-san!" Freshman 1's face was in disbelief. "I didn't know you were like that. You seemed so quiet when I met you."

"Yo!" Momo came in and greeted me. I smiled up at him then my eye started to twitch. Damn height. Why did I have to be vertically challenged?

"Freshmen, please line up." I gave them an all-too-sweet smile. "Introduce yourselves. Except for Kuni and Sakuno-chan of course, since I know them."

"Ne, ne!" Freshman 1 bounced up and down. Good thing he was first, I wanted him to be over and done with. "I'm Satoshi, Horio! I have two years of tennis experience! I'm going to be on the Seigaku Regulars!"  
"Oh, that's nice. And _why_ aren't you on the blocks? Next."

Kuni and Miyuu were choking over their laughter. Burn. _Total_ burn.

"Uh… I'm Kachiro, Kato." Kato? What a strange name. I'll leave him at Kachiro when I'm mentioning him.

"Katsuo, Mizuno." Too common to Mizuki. I'm leaving him at his last name as well. It has a nice ring to it anyways. Katsuo.

"I'm Osakada, Tomoka!" Her voice nearly pushed me off balance. Damn, she had a voice box. "I'm the captain of Echizen Ryoma's fanclub!"

"My cousin has a fanclub?" I questioned, confused. "Why would he? He's disgusting, ugly, and has no personality at all."

"I heard that."

"Oh."

I turned to see Ryoma there, smirking. "No personality, eh?"

"Nope. None at all." I was lying, of course. He was just too cocky for him to have a fanclub. He doesn't deserve one.

"Ah, well. Kaa-san(2) called me. She wants you over for dinner. Ja." He walked away as if nothing had happened. Jerk. He could've at least told me where he was staying.

"You got lost, remember? Get lost again."

I blinked. I decided to try something. I concentrated as hard as I could,

_If you can read my mind, cough now_.

Miyuu, Kuni, and Ryoma all coughed.

"What the hell?! Get out of my head!"

I ran away and towards the archery club, trying to find Giselle. I want to know if the trick works on her too.

* * *

**Miyuu's POV**

"Isn't it strange that we all coughed at the same time?" I questioned. "I had something in my throat."

"Yeah," Kuni agreed. "Wind like carried dust into my mouth."

"I just needed to clear my throat." Ryoma shrugged. He _really_ walked away now.

Kuni was still looking at the ground, as she was the whole time that Ryoma was here. I pulled her aside, away from the other freshmen. They all dispersed.

"You like Echizen." It wasn't a questioned. 'Tis a simple statement-slash-fact.

"No, I do _not_." Kuni averted her eyes from me. I snorted. She was really bad at lying.

"Yeah, yeah," I rolled my eyes. "You _definitely_ don't."

"Well then!" Kuni huffed, stomping her foot.

I paused again and blinked as Calli had. I thought girls _really did_ only do that on T.V. "What the—"

"Never you mind," Kuni commented, staring at her foot in disbelief. "_Anyways_, if Calli _did_ find out that I liked him… She wouldn't look at me the same way."

I began to laugh, actually laugh into hysterics, almost couldn't stop. "Are you _kidding_ me?!"

Kuni was really serious, and I felt bad. But it was just so _stupid_!

"Seriously, she doesn't care!" I wiped a tear from my eye, still having a stupid grin on my face. "A few years ago, when we first met, she was talking to me about how she wanted _you_ to end up with Echizen anyways.

"She thought you guys would be cute together. Until she found out that Echizen still had a big ego. Then she didn't want _you_ to get hurt. She cares more about _you_ than she does Echizen, so, calm down."

Kuni sighed. "That still gives me no permission." She was really self-conscious about this and I finally ceased my laughing completely, all humor gone.

"_Kuni_, why _wouldn't _she? You guys would be cute together anyways."

"No! He would _never_ like me!"

Was I ever this bad when it came to boys? Wait… Yes. I still am.

"Kuni, would you be happy if you ended up with him?"

"I don't really know him! But it's like I _do_. On a vibey-level, sort of. Tomoka likes him because he's cute and has skills, but _I_ like him because he has confidence that I would never have!"

"Stop screaming!" I demanded. Her voice got all screechy when she does that. "No more ending sentences with exclamation marks. Sheesh."

"Fine," Kuni sighed. "I'll deal with this like a little adult." "You know what? _Just_ to prove you wrong, I'm going to get Giselle and Calli together."

"What would _that_ do?"

"Oh, Kuni, Kuni, Kuni. Naïve little Kuni. Do you not know what we are capable of?"

She gulped.

"Yes! Operation: Get-Kuni-and-Echizen-Together begins…! When I find the other two and come up with a plan." I let the momentum fall. "But! The plan will carry on! Mwahaha!" I let out my best maniacal laughter.

"Miyuu," She whispered. I turned to her, still cackling. "People are staring."

I stopped. Damn, don't people have anything better to do?

"Giselle~" I sang her name. I began to frolic around. "I need to see if you're a mind-reader~"

"Calli?" I heard her voice carry from another building. I quickly followed it to run into a wall. Yes, I _do_ run into walls. "Ow, damn it." I cursed. "People should really watch where they place these."

"Or _maybe_, you should watch where you're going." Giselle stared in amusement at me.

"I like my idea better," I shrugged. "Seems less complicated."

"Of course, to _you_, it does."

I ceased what I was doing. (Which was recovering from hitting a wall.) I concentrated as I did before,

_If you can read my mind, cough now!  
_"_Please_ don't tell me you're doing the 'if you can read my mind, cough now' thing. If you are, YLIA." She grinned. MLIA stands for 'My Life is Average.' YLIA stands for '_Your_ Life is Average.'

Trust me, nowadays, average is pretty evolved.

"How'd you know I was?" I asked.

"Well, you took a deep breath and didn't say anything."

"It's nice to know that I take deep breaths before I scream inside my head." I said sarcastically, laughing.

"Don't worry. I do the same too. And I also read Harry Potter in a British accent." She and I have _so_ much in common! I see why she's my best friend.

"Well, that's all I came to do." I grinned. I then stopped. **"Wait. Who's the person you like who's in your class?"**

Nobody was really around, but I didn't want to risk it.

Giselle stiffened but turned around to face me again. Her eyes traced along the walls to find a window to stare out of, then sighed, and looked right into my eyes, having a small smile on her face.

"Eiji."

* * *

1 = **Konbanwa**: Good afternoon. (_Kohn-bahn-wah_.)

2 = **Kaa-san**: Mother. (_Kah-sahn_.)


	7. Chapter 006

**Chapter 006:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese. _Translations at the bottom._

* * *

"Do you think it looks like it's going to rain?" The new and _youngest_ member of the Seigaku Regulars scowled.

"Well, Ryoma," I smiled. "The sky is grey and the clouds look heavy. I'm pretty sure it doesn't look like sunshine will be here."

He glared at me. "Shut up."

"Just answering your question. If it was rhetorical, make sure you mention that it is."

"Once again, shut up."

"You two, stop!" Giselle, the new captain of the archery club, scolded.

I stuck my tongue out at her and she just rolled her eyes. Miyuu was happily skipping by my side and Kuni was hanging behind.

Recently, a few days ago, I found out that she had a crush on my little Ryoma-kins. I'm happy for her, don't get me wrong. It's just that I think that she's going to get hurt in the process. Of course, I didn't tell her.

After dinner last night, I had spent my time talking to Ryoma.

I distinctly remember our conversation.

"So, who's on the team?"

"You know Momoshiro-senpai." I nodded until I realized that nodding wasn't effective during a phone conversation.

"Carry on."

"Kaidoh Kaoru-senpai. The one with the bandanna and acts like a snake."

"Mmhmm."

"There's Inui Sadaharu. I took his place on the Regulars. He's the one with black spikey hair, the tallest, and has those creepy glasses and notebook."

"Mmhmm. Actually, I'm going to stop 'mmhmm'-ing right now. It makes my lips tickle. So carry on because I'm still listening."

"Whatever you say, Calli-nee-chan. There's the fukubuchou(1), Oishi Shuichiro-senpai."

"He's in my class," I remembered him as the one with the funny hair.

"That's nice. There's the buchou(2), Tezuka Kunimitsu-buchou."

"Ah, Mister Perfection."

"What?"

"Nothing, carry on, Ryoma."

"There's Kawamura Takahashi. He's timid and shy but when he grips a racket, he suddenly becomes this whole new person. He has brown hair and weird sideburns and brown eyes. Typical."

"Crazy."

"Stop talking. There's Kikumaru Eiji. He's super happy and bubbly. Scary. Red hair that has a strange flip and blue eyes."

"Eiji?" That's all I heard. I didn't hear any of the words surrounding it. I cleared my throat to make sure he didn't suspect anything. "Who else?"

"There's this person who everyone calls a 'Tensai.' Brown hair, bright blue eyes, but he never shows them. Fuji Syusuke."

My heart nearly stopped at that name. I blinked quickly to recover myself from the strange reaction. "That was… weird."

"What? Did your heart stop?" His voice sounded teasing.

"Yes, it did." I wasn't joking around about this. That was strange.

"Didn't you tell me once that you have a thing for brunettes with blue eyes?"

"Yeah," I contemplated that thought. "I guess so."

After a few minutes of speaking with each other, we both hung up.

And that night, I was left pondering why my heart was thumping so hard inside of my chest.

The rain that Ryoma predicted came after fifth period. And so, his tennis practice was canceled to his dismay. Today was also the first day of photography club! I have my Nikon D3000 ready to go!

Sixth period dragged off again and I fell asleep in class. I got in trouble. I had to read a part from a story. The teacher smirked at me, thinking that I didn't know any English.

Yeah, baby. This is _English_ class.

**"'Contrariwise, if was so, it would be. If it **_**were**_** so, it**_** would**_** be, but as it isn't, it ain't.'"** I paused at the strange words. **"What the heck? I've read this before. Is this Alice in Wonderland?" **I checked the cover. **"Yes! Tweedledum and Tweedledee!"**

The teacher and my classmates stared at me, dumbfounded. (Except for Tezuka, of course. [He now officially doesn't deserve me to call him by his first name.] But he's Mister _Composed_. Grumble, grumble…)

**"Uh. Good. You may take seat."** The teacher's accent made me laugh. Maybe I should stay awake in class more.

I, being who I am, went back to sleep.

"Darcel-san!" I felt a nudge at my shoulder. Didn't I _just_ fall asleep? "Class is over. You've been sleeping for twenty minutes."

Oh, apparently I didn't.

"Thanks," I grunted, stretching. "Do you know where Classroom 4 is?"

"It's down the hall," Shuichiro smiled. He seems like a really great guy. "Photography club?"

"Yes, actually!" I beamed, I was really excited. Our photography club in the states really sucked.

"Well, I hope you have fun! One of my friends is going to be there. Ja!" He smiled and waved back at me. He left the room quickly, probably wanting to beat the rush of the crowded hallways.

I walked down to where Shuichiro (I think I should call him Oishi. Shuichiro is a mouthful.) told me where to go. I, of course, found it since it was a couple of rooms down.

I stood at the doorway, marveling at the sight before me.

"Watch it!" I did a 180 to give the guy a piece of my mind.

My face turned undeniably red once I saw who accidentally walked into me.

I knew who this was. Even if we've never met before. There was _no_ other way. My heart had never felt like this except for last night…

His sandy brown hair going at a collar length, and his bangs spilled over onto his forehead. His eyes were closed, but I knew from what Ryoma told me that his eyes were a shocking cerulean. I couldn't wait for the moment to see them. An angelic smile grazed his face as his head was looking down towards me. His facial features were so soft that he almost looked feminine.

In his hands was his Nikomat FT SLR camera.

"G-gomenesai!" I backed up quickly, and nearly jumped when I hit another person. I turned again, and I bumped into another one, I turned once again, hoping not to hit anyone, and collided with the person who walked into me in the first place.

"I walk into you, you walk into me. We're even," He smiled at me.

My face was now a scorching scarlet. "I'm _so _sorry!" I buried my face into my hands, embarrassed out of my wits. **"I know I'm a klutz and all, but that was an epic fail! Even for me!"** I was muttering in English out loud. I mentally slapped myself. He probably thought I was crazy now.

"I think that we should take our seats," The tennis tensai, Fuji Syusuke, suggested, smiling gently. I couldn't help it, my face melted into a smile as well, despite myself.

I nodded, and placed myself in the seat right near the window. Photography club didn't exactly have a lot of people, and their cameras weren't as advanced as mine, even if mine was 'old' to some people. I felt out of place for the millionth time here.

I saw that Syusuke took a seat towards the front, where a group of girls hastily moved over to. I noticed that their cameras were all digital cameras decorated in bright colors with little mini icons. I could feel my left eye twitch. They weren't here for the photo_graphy_; they were here for the photo_grapher_.

I stared off out the window, watching each droplet of water descending from the clouds, fall onto Mother Earth's soil like rapid bullets. I sighed. I knew I wasn't going to see Syusuke much because of tennis practice; it only got canceled because of the rain.

I wonder what the rest of the girls were doing.

"Ow. Ow! OW! FREAKING A!"

"Don't be a baby! It's not so bad!"

"You shot me with an arrow!"  
"It was an accident!"

Maybe their day was going a whole lot better than mine was.

My phone vibrated inside of my bag and I realized that there were no teachers inside of the room yet. I pulled it out, feeling like a spy.

It was a text from Giselle.

_Yo. Miyuu shot Kuni with an arrow._

I rolled my eyes. Why was I _not_ surprised?

_Just follow medical procedures, you know how Kuni deals with blood… Not so well. Fix her up. Make Miyuu do everything. And never, I mean *never* let her near your archery stuff again._

It vibrated soon after again. _She found it. I stashed it. I swear that girl would do *anything* to get rid of her boredum._

I chuckled a bit, even if Kuni was in pain. This wasn't the worse thing that's ever happened to her… I hope.

Photography club would be a waste to describe. We were all supposed to introduce ourselves, but we were all rudely interrupted by the fangirls.

Stupid…

After the club was over, I managed to squeeze through everyone and sprint to the café that Ryoma and I visited. I had my samurai umbrella with me.

It's the most coolest umbrella ever!

Okay, so it's complementary with a samurai sword handle and a sheath that when you put it on your back, all that shows is the handle.

Intimidating, no?

Well, not anymore, since I told you the secret! Duh!

The café was packed with couples everywhere and I wanted to gag. The only couples I could tolerate were my parents, and Luke and Celia.

Luke (My older brother) and Celia (Girlfriend) are the most cutest couple _ever_! They're like Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical. I solemnly swore to them that I would never compare them to Bella and Edward.

Luke hinted to me that he will ask her to marry him. He wanted something original, but not far-fetched. I believe I have the perfect solution.

Oh, I'm going to be the one who plays all the music in the church and at the reception as well. Yes! Well, only if Celia says 'Yes,' but who wouldn't to Luke?

Whoa. Getting off track again.

I ordered a lemonade in Japanese, actually wanting to pay for something. I sighed and stared at the television placed in front of me. There was nothing interesting.

"Is there any book store nearby?" I questioned the waitress that came back. She smiled at me.

"Yeah. It's only a block away. I go there everyday during my break."

My ears perked at that. A new opportunity for a new friend! "When's your break?"  
"In about five minutes. Why? Would you like to accompany me?" She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

I nodded. "Oh, Darcel Callina. Seigaku. Third year. Call me Calli. Pleased to make your aquaintance."

"Raikatuji Aiko. Hyotei. Third year. Call me Aira. Likewise."

"Aira?" My voice was colored with confusion. "Where did that come from?"

"Oh, it's my first name and my last name put together," She nervously rubbed the back of her head, causing her glasses to fall to the tip of her nose again.

I grinned. "That's so cool! If my name was like that, I would be Cada… Yeah, I think I'll stick to Calli."

She boomed with laughter. "Okay, well, _Cada_, I have to head on back to work. I'll see you in five minutes."

I continued to drink my lemonade and I let my mind wander again.

But where did it want to go?

The image of Syusuke entered. I bolted up straight and immediately clenched my teeth, trying to stop my heart from leaping out of my body.

I could feel the blood rush to my face and I immediately dropped them into the palms of my hands. What was I _doing_? I acted so _stupid_ around him!

My drink was ony ¼ finished once Aira came back to see me. She looked at me with worry and I simply waved it off.

"'Tis nothing, Aira. Shall we be heading to the book store?" I asked, with a fake smile on my face. We walked out of the café to our destination.

"Boy issues?" Aira nodded all-too-knowingly.

I did an anime fall. "How'd you know?!"

"I didn't. I just guessed," She shrugged, having a goofy smile. "So, who is it? Considering it's Seigaku, probably a tennis player?"  
I rubbed my head sheepishly. "Yeah. Sort of. Not a big deal. There's nothing to worry about."

"Hey, I like a tennis player at my school. It _is_ a big deal to _me_. I'm pretty sure we have a lot in common. So _that_ must be one trait."

"Really? You don't seem so hung up on this guy."

"I've liked him ever since my childhood. I've gotten used to it. He's just so… Arrogant. I can't really get to him anymore. We broke apart as friends. It sucks."

"Aw. Dang, now I feel bad," I pouted. "_You_ have it harder than I do…"

"No, no, no!" She waved her hands dramatically in front of her. "Don't feel bad. It's okay. Well, the point _is_, the whole 'liking-a-guy' is a big thing."

"I guess…" I trailed off, sighing.

"Lemme guess who it is? Tezuka?"

"Ew. Mr. Perfection?"  
"Alright then. Eiji?"

"Don't even know him." That's technically true.

"Uh… Ryoma?"

"_Sick_! I will _not_ like my own cousin. Stupid incest."

"… Fuji?"  
My heart stopped like it usually did. I wanted to deny it, but I couldn't find the words inside of me. I couldn't even shake my own head!  
"Ooh! Fuji-san. Mr. Pretty-Blue-Eyes-slash-Mysterious-Man. Nice choice." She had a teasing tone and I rolled my eyes. She would be able to get along with Ryoma. "So what's the story?"

"What story?"  
"How'd you start liking him?"  
"I dunno. I just _formally_ met him today."

"_Formally_? So you like met him in your dreams?"

"No, I just talked to my cousin about him. And then that stupid feeling came up."

"That's how love works."

I barked out a laugh. "_Love_?! No. This is just a schoolgirl crush. I'm sure of it. I believe I've felt this before." Lies. Lies. All lies!

"Just embrace the fact that you're not a lesbian."

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with same gender lovin'."

"But you _will_ get discriminated for it."

This was one of the times when I actually didn't have anything to really say. "Well… Yeah. Most of the time." One of my friends was same gender lovin', so that's probably why I support.

"Look, here's the book store!" She clasped her hands together, making me turn my attention to the left.

I let a low whistle out. "That… is sweet."

The place was _huge_. I'm pretty sure it had books galore!

"The only problem is, is that most of the books are in English."

I chuckled. "I'm from the states. Lived there for a _long_ while. I got this."

We sauntered into the store and her eyes were twinkling.

"Ooh! Then have you read the Harry Potter series?"

"Are there one-hundred thirty-three ways to annoy people who hate Harry Potter? _And _eleven ways to use Harry Potter to annoy Twilight fans? And much, much more?"

"Oh my gosh~ Yes! Those lists are epic!"

I paused for a second. "I didn't know Japanese people used adjectives like 'epic.' That's world-record breaking."

"World-record breaking? Now _that's_ something I've never heard before."

"Well, almost _everything_ has to be in the record book. So if something is totally, completely, amazing-ly, awesome, then yeah. It's world record breaking."

"Nice."

"Thank you."

"So, did you move here recently?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. "Just a few days ago. I used to live here when I was a wee little kid though. Then I moved to the United States of America."

"Ah, that's cool." Her watch beeped on her watch. "Damn it! Sorry! I have to go! I forgot I had errands to run after this! Ja!"

I waved meekly at her running figure. I did a full circle turn to see my surroundings. My mouth nearly dropped at how many books were in here.

I'm now officially moving in here.

* * *

**I know that my stories tend to be getting shorter and shorter . I'm terribly sorry about that !**

**REVIEW ! Please ! I get e-mails of how many people add my story to their favorites/alerts . For all those people : PLEASE REVIEW !**

**It doesn't matter even it's just a " Write more ! It's great ! " Or whatever . It could even be flames !**

**Critiquing is kind of important to me . I beg of you !**

**I wrote this pretty fast and " Miyuu " hasn't proof-read it yet . (Yes , all of my characters are based on my friends .)**

**So it might not be as good . I just wanted this chapter to be over because I have more in store for Calli and Syusuke . ;]**

**REVIEW . REVIEW . I DEMAND IT .**

**Please ?**

**:3 (The bunny face begs.)**


	8. Chapter 007

**Chapter 007:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese. _Translations, if any, are at the bottom._

_**A/N: Thank you's are at the bottom as well! :D**_

**_2/11/2010: _Alright. I noticed there were grammar errors in this one. /: ****So I went to go edit them & the other thing, the reason why the whole 'Syusuke' scene seemed really awkward, was because I wrote that part BEFORE I wrote this chapter. I thought I would enter it at a time that they knew each other more. I really don't think I captured his personality, but I TRIED.**

**Review? Please?**

* * *

"School's out!" Giselle chanted beside me. I half-smiled. It's been almost a whole day ever since I found my haven. Which was the book store, FYI.

I was allowed to read in there until I wanted to stop. I wasn't even kicked out for staying in there for three hours! (This had happen to me before, and I plan never to let it happen again.)

"Does your back hurt?" Miyuu stared at me with concern then looked at my backpack with an amused look. "I think it's pregnant. Either that, or it's overweight."

"Shut up!" I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the sleep out. "I was staying up all night reading. I found so many books there! I had to buy _some_!"

"Some?! There's like twenty books in your bag right now!" Kuni screeched.

"No! There's only _ten_. That's _half _of twenty! Duh!"

"You honestly can't read _ten_ books at the same time," Giselle shook her head. Before I was about to deny that, she said, "Even for _you_."

I pouted. "You guys go ahead. I think I'm going to stay in the library to read there. To have peace and quiet."

"Fine." Miyuu and Giselle left but Kuni stayed behind.

"Yes, Kuni?"

"Well, I was wondering… Do you talk about Ryoma about me?" She blurted out the rest in one breath, her curiosity not being able to be contained.

I sighed again.

"Why? Do you want me to?"

"No! Of course not!" She shook her head fervently. "It's just… I don't know. Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Okay then," I was honestly getting ticked off by her. Last night was never-ending questions about Ryoma. The only reason I put up with her is because she's one of my best friends. She's too insecure.

"Wait. Calli," She whined. "Aren't you supposed to ask me what's wrong?!"

I let out a sigh of exasperation. She was acting like a pregnant woman. Trust me, when my mom was having my little sister, Lilli, I don't want to undergo that experience ever again. "Okay, Kuni," I said mock-heartedly. "What's wrong?"

"Never mind, I don't want to bother you." She sulked away.

I had to restrain myself from wringing her neck.

I tried to let my steam run while I was stomping towards the library. Once I was inside, I let my bag fall from my shoulder all the way to the floor, creating a loud _thump_. I looked in bewilderment at it. I guess I _did_ have too much books.

I took my Prophecy of the Sisters book out, not really wanting to finish it. I found out that it's a book in the series, and it _just_ came out. I hate it when I have to wait several _years_ for the next to arrive! Kids nowadays have it easy, they don't have to wait for the next Harry Potter book.

"Saa…" I turned around at the soft voice. It reminded me of this show that I used to watch when I was a kid. I believed it was 'Card Captor Sakura.' The voice I heard sounded _almost_ like Yukito's. Soft, confident, light…

"Oh! Fuji-san," I flustered again.

"You're Echizen's cousin, no?"

I hated when I was referred to that. I got tired of being compared to Ryoga and Ryoma when I was growing up, so that's one of the main reasons why I wanted to move to Texas. "I have a name, you know!" I snapped back, not thinking twice.

He didn't seem taken aback, I guess he could read my emotions fast, and just braced for the impact to come. "Ah, and what would that name be?"

I blushed again. How stupid! I forgot that I never even introduced myself. "Darcel Callina," I bowed low, now despising the short skirt around my waist. People, who make these uniforms and those who _approve_ of them, are all perverts!

"Callina? I've heard of Callista," He smiled down at me. "Not Callina, though."

"Uhm," I stuttered. "Kaa-san just w-wanted me to have an original name. She c-couldn't choose b-between Callista and Karina. So, Tou-san(1) put them together." I was getting better at this stuttering thing… Yeah, right.

"Doesn't Callista mean 'beautiful,' and Karina means 'pure?'"

I nodded slowly, blushing deeper more. My parents weren't so wise at naming me, I mean, I'm neither of those! Wait, I mean I'm _pure_, just… Agh. Forget it.

"It fits perfectly," My head shot up in surprise to see no traces of teasing upon his angelic face.

He took a seat next to me, and my blush automatically became deeper.

"Random question, but when is your birthday?"

Of course, I was surprised, but I still answered it. "March 14th. White day." I barked out a laugh. "It's nice to know that I can get gifts on that day from the boys that I gave presents to."

"Really? I was born on a special day that only comes every four years."

I know that he was making small talk, but that didn't stop my heart from pouding and making my chest hurt so very much.

"You were born on February 29th?" I questioned the Tennis Tenshi(2)/Tensai(3).

He smiled. "Yes. I'm a leap-year baby," He chuckled. "My Kaa-san told me I was born backwards as well."

Backwards? Did he mean that his mother wasn't the one that got pregna-?

"I was born feet first."

Oh.

"That's… different," I stated, seeing that his facial expression didn't change at all. He was all smiles. I couldn't help but think that his smiles weren't all true. He had a… barrier, if you will, around him. I couldn't wait to find a way to get him caught off guard.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you, Darcel-san," He smiled. "I have to go ahead to tennis practice."

"Ah! Is Ryoma going to be there?" I smiled. "I would like to accompany you if possible."

"Of course," Syusuke led me forward, closing the library door behind us. "Your cousin is very talented in tennis."

I snorted. "Of course he is. He grew up with tennis. Ever since he was three. I was five when I moved to the states. When I lived in America with him, he was always the main point in my photos and videos. That was until I moved to Houston when I was twelve. Then he moved here, and I guess I followed. He moved a little bit earlier than I did."

"I see," He still had that fake smile plastered along his face.

How could he _see_ if his eyes are always closed?

I began pondering over this. The most logical answer was, he was squinting. Next possibility, he knows his surroundings so well that doesn't _have_ to see them, and he has good senses. Next possibility, he uses black magic.

"Ah, here we are!" Syusuke interrupted my thoughts and announced our arrival.

"Ne, ne! Fujiko!" I saw someone who had crimson-colored hair bounce his way over to us. He reminded me of someone… "Who's this?"

The stranger put his face close to mine, and I instinctively backed away quickly. I fell.

"Ow," I muttered under my breath.

"This is Darcel Callina-san," Syusuke formally introduced me, helping me to my feet. I gave him a soft and short "Thanks."

"Callina? Lina-chan! Such a cute name!" The red-head bounced around, glad to find a new nickname for me. He began to circle around me, making me feel very uncomfortable.

"Ah," I sweat dropped. "And what is yours?"

"Kikumaru Eiji!"

At this, if I had a glass of water and I was drinking it, I would've surely done a spit-take. "_Kikumaru?_"

And another thing, _Eiji_? That's who Giselle likes! But, maybe, there's another Eiji? Hah. Doubt it. Giselle _was_ right. This guy was the exact _opposite_ of her.

"Hai!" He grinned at me, giving me a peace sign.

"Do you know a Kikumaru Miyuuki?"

Before Eiji could answer, Miyuu came running out of the school, and I could see Kuni chasing after her with a book. Oh my— What the heck did they do now?!

"Miyuu! Kuni!" They both turned to my voice. "Front and center!"

They walked over here like puppies going to receive a punishment. "What did you guys do?"

"Miyuu—!"

"It's not like—!"

These girls were best friends, but they bickered too much. It was always over stupid stuff.

"Miyuu, what did you do?"

"Why do you always blame me? It could've been Kuni—"

"_What did you do?!_"

She flinched away at my tone. She sighed, "I tried to scare Kuni in the library, and it worked. Then she stumbled against the shelves, and a lot of books fell. A lot fell on her and other people in the library. One of the books pulled on her neck and her necklace ripped off and it fell into my hands." She held out Kuni's favorite necklace. "That's when she started to chase me. She thought I stole it._ Which I did not!_"

I would've _killed _Miyuu if I had the chance if she took _my _favorite necklace. "…Don't let it happen again," was all I could really say to her. I grabbed the necklace out of Miyuu's hands and poured the thin silver chain with a charm into Kuni's.

I turned to the tennis boys. We must seem like aliens to them!

"Hi, Miyuu!" Eiji waved at Miyuu.

"Aye! Eiji!" I knew that she didn't have to use honorifics when it had to do with relatives. She glomped him, I then felt a disturbing presence. I turned to the right to see a bunch of girls steaming with rage. I quickly pulled Miyuu off.

Before she could question me, I cut her off, **"I don't want you to be killed by fangirls."**

She gulped.

After excusing myself for a little bit, I walked over to a school wall to lean all of my weight and burdens on it. When did Miyuu ever say she was related to Eiji? Why does Giselle even _like_ him? She was always for the serious and mature type. (Not so much as Tezuka, but more of someone who could still be taken seriously.)

And why does Syusuke make me feel this way? I just met him! There's no such thing as love at first sight! (It wasn't even _sight_! It was by hearing his name! Wait, no! I'm not in love!)

My heart rate gradually decreased, I noticed.

Love shared between people on a romantic level is such a sick thing! You've built all of these defenses to make sure that no one will ever tear you down. You become secluded to this type of thing to help you keep away from rejection. Then _suddenly_! Another _stupid_ person, no different than any _other stupid_ person in the world, walks into your _stupid_ life, and has the ability to break you and mess you up!

Sick, I tell you.

Love on a romantic level is just… Fairy-tales.

Yeah, my parents. Yeah, Luke and Celia. That doesn't mean they don't fight a lot. That doesn't mean that they have no _faults_. Love perhaps found them, but most certainly, it would never find _me_.

See what Syusuke is doing to me?! He's making me seclude myself _just_ to try to figure out what _exactly_ he's doing. He's a sadist. That's it! That's all I can say. But the questions seem never ending, and I _never_ seem to have an answer.

Now, let's be open-minded. If I _am_, which I am not, in _love_…

It's one-sided.

He just met me and I'm pretty sure he sees through me as easily as he sees through a newly washed window. (And with those good glass cleaners. Not those cheap ones.)

"Whoa, Calli, that you?" Giselle came running towards me with her archery gear. "What happened?"

"What do you _mean_, 'What happened?'" The first thing I did was check my hair to feel if it was in place. It was definitely in tact and not falling out soon.

"Your face shows all your emotions, dude." Giselle laughed.

I was an open book to her as she was to me.

I rolled my eyes. "Really? That's _perfect_!"

"So, seriously, what's strange that's going on with you?"

"I'm having a heated discussion with myself."

"That's not strange. That's normal."

"No, it is not."

"For you, it is."

I opened my mouth to argue, but quickly closed it. She was right. I sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today. "I'm just not feeling well, then."

Giselle looked straight into my eyes, green burning into red. "I _would_ say something, but it would make me look stupid. So… Yeah…" Her voice automatically become slower, trying to avoid awkwardness, but of course, there has to be a touch of irony. She was taking a step with each word. "I'm… just… going… to go… back… to… archery now."

"No need to talk slower, you already seem retarded." I smiled at her.

She glared. "Have a good day."

"Yeah, sure. While I feel like _shit_." I muttered under my breath angrily. I didn't want to go ahead to the house since there would be no one there.

See, this is one of the rare times when I have _nothing to do_ on a Friday. I contemplated the thought of taking pictures then realized that I have enough pictures of the school grounds. I let out a long breath and pulled out my iPod. I guess I'm stuck playing never-ending games.

* * *

**Miyuu's POV**

"I can't believe I got in trouble thanks to you!" I half-whispered angrily towards Kuni. She stuck out her tongue and quickly went back to being 'angry.' (She really wasn't. It's not possible for her to actually be, and truly, _angry_.)

"Well, you know, you shouldn't have taken it!"

"_I didn't_!" I roared. (Haha. Roared.)

"Well, you should've given it back to me before you started that whole chase!" My eye twiched at what she said, she was the one who started it!

"You tackled me!"

"It was a defense mechanism!"

"Seems more like, _crazy psycho_ from _my_ point of view!"

She huffed and turned her body away from me at the same time I did.

"Jerk," We muttered under our breath in unison. "What did you say?!" We turned to each other at the same time and began to argue with each other.

"Ne, ne! Best friends shouldn't fight, nyah!" Eiji came over and covered his ears. "It's not good!"

I breathed in and out through my nose, which flared. "Fine."

"Yeah. Sorry." Kuni mumbled pathetically. "I didn't mean to tackle you or chase you around the whole school."

I shrugged. "It's fine. You chased me around. You tackled me. You nearly broke my ribs. You made me get in trouble. But you did it all for love! So it's fine."

Kuni blinked. "Really?"

"No, not really," I cackled and ran away as fast as I could.

**"MIYUU! YOU JERK!"**

* * *

**Calli's POV:**

"Oh my gosh, this is taking _forever_!" I whined.

"What are you talking about? You weren't whining ten minutes ago!"

"That was _ten minutes ago_! This is now!" My voice was even sounding annoying to me, but I couldn't help it. I was so _bored._ "Giselle! I wanna go home!"

"Then _go_!" She yelled out of exasperation. We were lucky that the archery club was really small. I met all of the members in… five minutes tops.

"But no one's home!"

"Calli, seriously, you're acting like a child!"

"_You're_ acting like a child!" I pouted. I didn't realize how immature that sounded until I said it aloud.

"Shut up!" She went ahead and made her bow poke me in the stomach, and I nearly tackled her. By nearly, I mean leaping but missing. "What was _that_ for?!"

"_You_ started it! You're the one who hit my tummy," I began to rub said object.

"Go read." This wasn't a suggestion, it was a command.

I realized that my _real_ reason for staying behind in the first place was so that I could catch up on reading. Wow, I feel like an idiot. I trotted over to sit in a corner and blocked out all the sounds of the world.

My phone rang before I could turn to my bookmarked page. I huffed.

_I will not bow/I will not break/I will shut the world away/I will not fall/I will not fade//I will take your breath away._

**(A/N: This is my real ringtone in real life. I love Breaking Benjamin.)**

"What?" I snapped before I read the Caller ID.

**"Yes, someone order fried rice?"** This was said in the most _fakest, _Asian-est accent I have _ever_ heard.

"Miyuu, what do you want?"

"Sheesh, I was just asking if you ordered fried rice. No need to be so touchy."

"Shush. You solved everything with Kuni?"

"Uh… Define 'solve.'"

"Solve, transitive verb. Deal with problem successfully. Synonyms consist, of _re_solve, answer, explain, unravel, work out, disentangle, and elucidate."

"Yeah…" She hesitated on the phone. "I did no such thing. She got me in trouble!"

"You guys are best friends!"

"Sheesh, why does everyone always use that excuse against us?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe, because, possibly, _it's_ _true_!"

"No need to yell! Fine! I will… eh-luh-cee-daht the problem. Or whatever the heck it is."

"Elucidate."

"Who cares? Same difference!" The line cut off.

…Our stay in Japan was certainly going to be a _long_ one.

* * *

1 = **Tou-san**: Means 'Father'. (_Toh-sahn._)

2 = **Tenshi**: Angel. (_Tehn-shee_.)

3 = **Tensai**: Prodigy. (_Tehn-sigh_. [Yeah. Got no other way to put it.])

* * *

**Special **"**Thank You's" to:**

**--DivineBitterness ! (Because you've been helping me. Haha. Thanks 'Miyuu'! Real life and anime friend. ;] [And seriously, our English teacher needs to chill.] READ HER HARRY POTTER STORY, PLEASE. CRAZY GEWD.)**

**--Anonymous ! (First reviewer I ever had! And reviewer up to the present!)**

******--Tsukino(.)Flyheight ! (You got my message, but thanks again! :D )**--smilingbookworm95 ! (Thank you for reviewing! I will read your story when I have the time, most definitely.)

**--Sadistic Kunoichi-13 ! (Haha. Funny thing is, is that when I was writing this at like 3 in the morning, Aira wasn't supposed to enter as a character. I was talking to my **_**friend**_**, Aira… And I guess that's how it worked out. We'll see how the story goes. ;] & Thanks for adding me to favorites and alerts!)**

**--…! (I had a feeling. I knew something was wrong with that. I was at school when writing this, and they have all the translators blocked. -****__****- Thanks! I'll change it as soon as possible.)**

**--amy0213! (For adding my story to your favorites! :])**

**--shiraishireiya! (If I totally spelt that wrong, I'm terribly sorry. Thanks for adding me to your favorites!)**

**--Kris 77! (For adding me to your favorites & being **_**second**_** to adding me as a alert!)**

**--XKawaii-Neko-Chan-X! (For adding me to your favorites!)**

**--magic126! (Thanks for adding me to your favoriteeees & alerts~)**

**--Stuffed Piggy! (For adding me to yohh fav-oh-ree-tos. :])**

**--keropii! (You were the one who gave me enough confidence to continue this story! And so, I take my figuratively speaking hat off to you! Thank you so very much! For adding me to your favorites!)**

**Notice: I will not be doing this for every chapter. (Gonna take too long. :/)**

**But I wanted to thank everyone who started me off! :D**

**ARIGATOU GOZAMASU. –bows–**


	9. Chapter 008

Chapter 008.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama.

**Bold is English.** Regular is Japanese. _Translations, if any, are at the bottom. _

**A/N: **Guys. Guys. What is this? I'm updating? WHAAAT? I haven't been on FanFiction in forever, but I recently got an email that said someone added my story to their favorites. Then I reread my story, and I was like, "WHY ARE YOU GUYS READING THIS." Haha. This is not my favorite writing at all. AGHH, WHAT HAVE I DONE. Anyways! I'm updating because I see potential in this story. It's not a serious story, which I love. I haven't written anything funny or childish because of stupid essays and such. And I've been reading Prince of Tennis again, after finishing FMA and Ao No Exorcist. But… it's been a while, so my memory's not fresh. Another warning, I don't think I'm going to go with the whole 'follow the manga/anime' timeline. Only for a few details because I don't wanna be completely far off from it. But following it exactly, that'll take too long, ne? Another thing, I wrote this when I was, like, what? 12? 13? Now, I've been through ninth grade, the grade that Calli's in. AND IT SUCKED. I HATE HIGH SCHOOL WITH A PASSION. It disrupted my writing, and now that it's summer, and nearly over, I've decided to go back to it. ^_^" So now, I can really relate to Calli. But I'm telling you this now, the Calli I had written before seemed like a Mary Sue to me. HECK, IT BOTHERS ME. I'M GONNA MAKE HER MORE IMPERFECT. But… I wanna put some musical talent in there. Because I do music. Viola, piano, guitar, and ukulele are the instruments I know how to play _well_. Haha. A little bit of cello and violin, but asdfghjkl. (And few more, but meh.) My voice, I guess, is okay. (ALSO, THE REASON I HAVEN'T BEEN WRITING IS BECAUSE I HAS A BOYFRIEND. Remember when Calli said that she enjoyed watching swimming? Yeah, no. It sucks. My boyfriend of 17 months is a swimmer. And it's so hot and humid and freaking A, it sucks. I only like watching it when I get to see him own everyone else. :D Also, dancing is still my favorite sport to watch. Yes, it's a sport.) AND I LIKE THE BIEBZ NOW. WHUT. What happened to me while I was gone?

PS, I want a Canon 7D or T2i. But unfortunately, in real life, I only have the Nikon 3000.

Yes, I still have a thing for photography. :P

I'm also trying to pursue a career in psychiatry and creative writing.

* * *

I raised an eyebrow at the circle of friends. "Isn't it weird?"

It was more than 24 hours that we had figured out that Miyuu was related to Eiji. That can't just be a coincidence? The fact that she_ also_ has family going to the same exact school?

Huh. Family. I should call them sometime.

"Coincidences happen." Giselle shrugged. She switched her gaze towards Miyuu, who was subconsciously sharpening her nails. It's a habit of hers. Strange, I know.

"I mean, Seigaku is a big school," Kuni added.

"Fine. Does anyone else have family at Seigaku?" I stared down Giselle and Kuni.

Giselle just smirked while Kuni coughed.

"WHAT?"

"We didn't say anything!" Kuni put her hands up in defense.

"But, you _do_ have relatives at Seigaku?"

Kuni shrugged. "I mean, why else would my family let me do this exchange program?"

She was right. Her family was always babying her. But to be honest, I had thought that I had handled her parents' decision. I knew they loved me, so, how hard could it be to convince them to let her do this program?

"They just wanted someone to be there so that they could watch over me in case anything happened."

"I haven't even seen you come into contact with anyone except for us? I mean, how could he watch over you if it looks like that he's not ever around?"

"They play tennis," Kuni replied.

I sweat dropped. "That's nearly the whole school, sweetheart."

Kuni smiled. "Exactly! You'll meet him when the time is right!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Fine, fine."

"So… Aren't you going to ask Giselle who her relative is?" Miyuu piped up. "I mean, I'm kinda curious. Are _they_ as perfect as Miss Perfect here?"

Giselle scoffed. "Please, like anyone can touch this."

We all stared agaped at her.

"Guys, I'm kidding." She laughed. We all let out a breath. If there's one thing that Giselle isn't, that's cocky. "But my relative's pretty cool. A little strange, but, eh, when has that ever made a difference on how we viewed people? We don't exactly talk, but that's because they're always busy with something. It's like they never have any free time."

"So, who is it?" Kuni asked with bright eyes.

"Not telling."

I glared at her. She smiled back. I knew I wouldn't be able to get it out of her. She wouldn't give anything up that she didn't think we needed to know. Especially when she can make a game out of it. But, the guy that she likes and other secrets? Yeah, we gotta know that.

I sighed. "Might as well let your relatives be a secret then. How about we go ahead and find a grocery store. Not in the mood to do take out."

"Okay!" Everyone else chimed.

* * *

"**Agh, that was freaking delicious.**" Miyuu sighed while rubbing her stomach. "**Can we have that every night?**"

"**Spaghetti **_**every night?**_" I laughed. "**The only reason I wanted to make spaghetti is because it's fast and easy**."

"**If you want fast and easy, might as well as bought Easy Mac.**" Giselle said, twirling her spaghetti around her fork. She was the slowest eater out of all of us. "**I'm sure if we bought four family sizes, they would've last us two hours.**"

I laughed. "**Yeah, but unfortunately, I'm on a budget here. Just because my parents are rich doesn't mean I am.**"

"**Yes, it does!**" All of them glared at me.

"**YOU GUYS HAVE PARENTS TOO.**" I retorted. "**You guys should buy some things for this place too. We all gotta contribute, mayne.**"

"**Yeesh, don't be so tense.**" Miyuu muttered.

Suddenly, I could see a light bulb over Kuni's head. She was grinning like an idiot. "**Guys. Tomorrow's Friday." **(A/N: I actually don't know. I haven't been keeping track of the week. Let's just say it's Friday, mmkay?)

"**Yeah, so?**" I shrugged.

"**It's the weekend,**" She said pointedly. "**We could all use a break and check out some hot spots here. Isn't there a mall that's nearby? And you could show us the book store that you went to!**" She was nearly squealing with excitement.

Giselle laughed lightly. "**Yeah. Let's all take a break after school.**"

"**Mission: Relaxation activates!**" Miyuu yelled.

* * *

"When will this be over?" I groaned.

"It's only lunch time." Giselle sweat dropped.

"I wanna go to the mall nooooowwww."

"Stop acting like a child."

"Yes, mom." I muttered.

She pinched my ear.

"**Freaking A, man!**" I slapped her hand away.

"Act like a child, get treated like one," she grinned. She walked off, with her bento completely empty. She was going to practice her archery. I stared down at my bento, only halfway through.

You know something's wrong with you when Giselle finishes her food before you do.

I closed my bento box and decided to see how Ryoma was doing.

Lo and behold, I see the green headed boy right in front of me.

"Yo, Chibisuke."

"Darcel-senpai."

There were a lot of people staring at us. It was like we were having a standoff. I quickly coughed and walked towards him, averting my gaze from all the people. "What the heck is the matter with everyone?"

He shrugged. "It's a weird school."

We walked until we reached the shade under a large tree, not many people surrounding us. He stared at me for a moment.

His voice lowered. "You haven't gotten angry once today. I've seen you complain, but I usually hear you screaming at someone else."

A vein in my forehead throbbed. I then sighed. "I'm just tired of school already. I know it's the first week and all, but my friends and I had decided to make plans and go to the mall."

His facial expression brightened up. "Ah, can you wait for me? I kinda wanna go to."

I grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that. Can you ask your dad to give us all a ride, then?"

He sweatdropped. "I knew you were going to use me."

"Payback, Chibisuke."

"Oi! Did I hear something about a mall gathering?" Momoshiro put his arms around the both of us. "I wanna go too!"

"Get your own ride," Ryoma grunted.

"Aw, come on! Who needs a ride? Can't we all just walk there?"

"The mall is an hour away, walking." (A/N: That's actually hecka close. Ahaha. Calli's just lazy. :P It's also impossible for a mall to be that close to a residential area, I do believe, but… I do what I want.) I scrunched my nose up in disgust. "I'm not staying outside for an hour, just to walk to a mall."

"You stayed outside for 12 for Disneyland." (A/N: Go to Disney World. It's better. Unless you wanna see Spieling Peter. :P)

"…It's an amusement park."

"For children."

"I'm still a kid, aren't I?"

"You could've said no."

"One does not simply say no to Disneyland."

"Hoi, hoi!" A blurred red flashed by. "I wanna go too!"

"To Disneyland?"

"No! To the mall!" Eiji grinned. "Let's all go!"

Momo shushed him. "Ey, it was originally just going to be us." He points at himself, Ryoma, and I. "And her friends."

I twitched. "It was_ originally_ me and my friends."

But they weren't listening, of course.

Eiji whined. "You can't have all the cute girls to yourselves! You have to let me come, come on!"

Ryoma stared. "Will you buy us food, senpai?"

Eiji sweat dropped and laughed sheepishly. "I have no money."

Momo and Ryoma shook their heads.

The red head switched gazes fervently with the two, but neither of them were budging. His blue orbs then stared straight into mine. Straight into my soul.

Aw crap.

He grabbed my hands and pulled them close to his chest. "Lina-nee-chan will definitely say yes, ne?"

When the freak did the 'nee' come in?

But his stare was smoldering. And he looked so much like a lost cat.

I hate cats.

"No."

(A/N: I do hate cats. Except for one. But she acts like a dog. Her name's Cat. :P [Catarina]. She will one day make her debut on this story, but not yet.)

He then pursed out his bottom lip.

Freaking A, man.

That, with his blue eyes nearly watering.

"FINE!"

"NO!" Momo and Ryoma groaned.

I glared at both of them.

Eiji grinned and started dancing around.

The freak?

"What use is a senpai if they can't pay for food?"

I glared. "_What_ was that, Chibisuke?"

"Nothing." He muttered, clearing his throat.

"Thank you, Lina-chan! I'll buy you ice cream when we get there!"

"YOU HAVE MONEY, YOU LIAR!"

* * *

**Miyuu's POV:**

I whistled as I wandered the halls of the school. There were different bulletins of different clubs to join. I was trying to find one that I could easily fit in to. I'm sure there's one out there.

Yeah right.

"Miyuu-chan!"

I turned around to see Kuni panting, her glasses nearly at the brim of her nose. She was running towards me with a sheet of paper in her hand. "I got something! A club that you could join!"

"What is it?"

"It's a Cat-holic club!"

I stared at her blankly. She passed me the sheet of paper.

I nearly slapped my forehead right then and there.

"Honey, it says Catholic."

"…What?"

She ripped the piece of paper from my hand. She groaned. "They have a Catholic club, but not a Cat-holic club?"

"They do. It's called the **Purr-fect Group**."

"They couldn't come up with a Japanese name?"

"Apparently."

"That's weird."

"Yes. Because a Cat-holic club is a normal, everyday thing." I flicked her forehead. "Any luck finding any other clubs that we could do? Giselle's got Archery, Calli's got Photography, even if she says it's horrible, and we got nothing."

"Why don't you just do the art club?"

My face became flustered. "No, I can't… I mean, like, my drawing's not even that great. Here in Japan, my drawings could be worse compared to the states. And my drawings weren't even that good in the states!"

Kuni grabbed my shoulders and shook me, while screaming, "It doesn't matter! You love it! Go do it! Pursue a career in it! **DO WHAT YOU WANT.**" She let go of me.

I stumbled back a little before I regained composure.

Kuni was just staring at me, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Well, what about you?"

"I dunno. I'll find something."

"You should join the dance club."

Her face flushed into a deep red. "NO!"

"Shall I give you the same lecture you gave to me?"

"What I do shouldn't even be considered dance."

"I think you're marvelously brilliant."

She shook her head fervently. "You're insane."

"That may be true, but my opinion isn't."

Kuni laughed. "Let's just head towards the tennis courts. I'm sure we'll find Darcel-senpai there. Maybe she'll be able to knock some sense into you."

* * *

**A/N: **Ended it sooner than what I was expecting because I didn't want this to be a hecka long chapter, and I really wanted to get this chapter up because I was so excited. Hah. SO! The mall shall continue on in the next chapter! (Which will hopefully be up by tomorrow. ^_^)

THANK YOU FOR READING!


	10. NOTE!

HI GUYS!

So, I'm probably going to rewrite "Smile," and recreate it into a similar, but more well-written, okay?

Because the character development was frustrating me, and everything seemed too… perfect. I know that when I was younger, Calli was everything that I wanted to be, but now, I dunno. I think I'm just going to try to go with what comes naturally. But to be honest, my newer character might seem like a Mary Sue too. Haha. ^_^". Her name won't be Calli anymore. It'll be Kaydence. Just because I'm used to that name. She's going to be partly based on me. She's gonna know English, Japanese, and Latin. (Taking out the French 'cause I quit it. ._." Taking Latin now, which is a lot more challenging. Haha.) I don't know Japanese, but I do know Tagalog, so… I'm just switching them out, mmmkaaay? She's going to be into music. But I'm only going to let her play the instruments that I know _well_. Piano, viola, guitar, and ukulele. Oh, and voice. She's going to be a writer. She's going to know how to draw. (These is my drawing skills: [ /p/Nh3_VkzIYs/] I know they're not as good as others, but I mean, at least I can draw a little bit. ._.") I want her to know how to dance, but meh, I'm kinda not wanting that at the moment.

I'm gonna make every single character just a tad more insane. ^_^

The basic plot, though, is going to be the same. It's probably going to follow the story line of the original manga/anime, but… I'll add a few tweaks here and there.

So, thank you all!


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